Photo opportunity 5.30pm, Thursday 10 October, Institute of Sport and Exercise, Old Hawkhill, Dundee.
Having proved they are the most "gripp-it" people in the city - four very strong people will be awarded prizes today at the University of Dundee in recognition of their impressive hand-grip strength. Laura Watters, Shawn Gilmour, Mandy Coleman and Hongying Meng demonstrated their gripping prowess to University science and sports experts in an open competition in the Wellgate centre.
The competition was one of the events at the recent Wellgate STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics activity weekend. Members of the public were invited by the University's Science faculties to try a strength-testing activity. This involved measuring their handgrip strength with a dynamometer and measuring the size of the cross-sectional area of their forearm muscles. Their prize-winning grip was calculated as the maximum force which their forearm muscles could exert.
Two strong under-16 prize-winners - Laura and Shawn will each be awarded a family set of tickets to the Sensation Science centre. The over-16 prize-winners - Mandy and Hongying will receive a voucher for a fitness assessment in the Performance Assessment Unit at the Institute of Sport and Exercise, University of Dundee.
The prizes will be presented by sports science officer Dr Audrey Duncan who also will conduct the fitness assessments. Audrey, an expert in fitness and training programmes has helped train international golfers and commonwealth Games athletes formulating specific training programmes tailored to each individual's fitness needs and goals. In the one-to-one fitness assessment, Audrey will evaluate Mandy and Hongying's fitness by measuring their blood pressure, body composition (height, weight and body fat%), muscular strength, aerobic stamina, flexibility and lung efficiency. After the tests are completed, they will be given a personalised report that summarises their results.
The Faculties of Life Sciences and Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Dundee offer a wide range of STEM activities, including talks, demonstrations, laboratory visits and hands-on practical experience.
Contact Janet Hughes 01382 345195
By Jenny Marra, Press Officer 01382 344910 j.m.marra@dundee.ac.uk