Rate My Professor Ieuan Phillips

Ieuan Phillips is a Research Associate at Loughborough University’s Sports Technology Institute within the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering. He graduated from Loughborough University in 2021 with a BEng in Sports Technology. His final-year project investigated a novel approach and measurement method for subconcussive football head collisions. He began a PhD in January 2022 at the same institute, funded by the Football Association, focusing on the influence of football materials, construction and assembly on energy transfer to the brain during heading. The project examines pressure wave propagation in head collisions and its implications for injury prevention in football.

Phillips has contributed to multiple industry projects, including testing and validation of adidas football boots and the Al Rihla Pro football used in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as well as prototype testing for Kipsta and Concave. In 2026, as lead researcher, he published findings on a previously unreported pressure wave mechanism transferring energy to the brain during headers, with results varying significantly across ball types. His work is supported by the Football Association’s head and brain injury research programme. Phillips received the 2021 adidas Sports Technology Project Prize, Andrew Simpson Project Prize and Innovation in Manufacturing Engineering Project Prize. He has held student leadership roles, including co-chair of the organising committee for the ISEA 2024 conference, and serves as Inaugural Chair of the Badminton Wales Youth Council.