Episode 232: In this episode of Accelerate Podcast, host Nicola Graham is joined by Jordan Stewart-Mackie an Applied Performance Scientist and PhD candidate at the University of Birmingham, where his research focuses on wearable technology and data integration.
Jordan's work has spanned some of the most contrasting environments in world sport — from the Premier League to Thai football to NBA Academy Africa — settings where resources, infrastructure, and staffing vary dramatically. That range has given him a rare view of what actually determines whether technology succeeds: not the sophistication of the device, but the system and the people around it.
ㅤ At the centre of the conversation is the translation problem in sports tech: the gap between what data can tell us and what practitioners can act on. Jordan has built a set of structured models to close it — BISA for technology selection and evaluation, SFQT for turning data into actionable decisions, PLACE for cultural readiness and implementation stickiness, and ATRIS, the end-to-end system that connects those layers.
ㅤ The discussion also explores why human connection remains the deciding factor in adoption, and how educating and empowering athletes — rather than simply monitoring them — turns data from something done to a squad into something they buy into.
ㅤ Topics Discussed:
- The Translation Problem in Sports Tech
- Building Frameworks for Implementation: BISA, SFQT, PLACE & ATRIS
- The Need for Human Connection
- Empowering and Educating Athletes to Aid Adoption
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Where you can find Jordan:
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Sponsors
Gameplan Is a Rehab Management System providing Medical & Performance Departments with a centralised platform to plan, track & manage the return-to-play process inside a data rich environment. Gameplan provides one platform to connect the people, process and data during rehab.
VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Hytro: The world’s leading Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) wearable, designed to accelerate recovery and maximise athletic potential using Hytro BFR for Professional Sport.
BTL: BTL Industries develops advanced rehabilitation and performance technologies, including SIS DUO, Shockwave Therapy, High-Intensity Laser, TR-Therapy, Lymphastim and R-FORCE. BTL systems are designed to support recovery, pain management, functional rehabilitation and return-to-play pathways across clinical and elite sport settings.
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