SNOWBOARD DESIGNER
Liza Brooks
Hi, I'm Liza and I'm the Technical Director of a company called True Snowboards, which designs and makes snowboards. At school, I loved DT, Maths and Physics and went on to do a mechanical engineering degree. I didn't know what to do for my final project so my teacher suggested I followed my interests and looked at snowboarding. I did my project on the vibrations and frequencies of snow and what that means for snowboard design and the rest is history!
I think Science and Maths have led me to the best job in the world. I get to design snowboards, which I love, I get to test my designs on the French Alps and I get paid to do it!
Discover more about Liza's company, True Snowboards, and find out how science influences sport here.
Did you know?- Snowboard Designers can earn from £16,000- £55,000.
- Being a Snowboard Designer, involves travelling to ski resorts all over the world, from the French Alps to the Canadian Rockies.
- Snowboard designers create boards for athletes at the winter Olympics. You could be responsible for helping bring home a gold medal!
- Snowboard designers and engineers don't have a dress code to stick to and aren't restricted to where they work.
- You get paid to spend a lot of time on the snow, testing different snowboard designs.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:Hi, my name's Liza and I'm a snowboard designer.
Basically, in my job, what I have to do is look at the science that goes into a snowboard, so how the rider's going to move it on the slope, the materials, the construction and then use the science to make the board better.
I didn't want to have a boring job when I finished university, so I decided to start a snowboard company and then I'd be able to pursue my hobbies every day.
This is Cody, he's ranked 5th in the UK, he's a snowboarder, and I'm going to get him to test out some of my boards for me.
See that little spike there, that's where you hit that bump. I actually came up with this idea to measure the snow vibration. I'm the first in the world to use this particular testing method.
When I get my sums right that means my snowboards can jump higher.
I really love my job. One day I can be in the laboratory testing new materials, the next day I can be out on the slopes. It's really good fun to get to travel with your job. I love the fact that I can get paid to go out to France, and I get to play and go snowboarding all day whilst doing science at the same time of course.
I really didn't like Maths at school, but now I'm able to apply it on the slopes I understand why it's useful.
What I get the biggest kick out of is when the results all tie up and then I'm able to make the snowboards better for my riders.
My advice to anyone who wants to do a job like mine, make sure you study Maths, Physics and Design Technology at A-level and then take a Mechanical Engineering Degree when you go to university.
I would definitely recommend this job to other people as I think it's the best job in the world.
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