Smart Wearable Research (SWR) Group

The Smart Wearable Research (SWR) Group at Nottingham Trent University is a multidisciplinary hub of innovation, advancing the frontiers of wearable technology through cutting-edge research in electronic textiles, medical devices, smart sensors, and functional materials. The group collaborates across departments and with industry to develop transformative solutions for healthcare, sport, environmental monitoring, and personal protection.

Research Themes

• Wearable Technologies: Development of e-textiles, physiological sensors, and actuators for real-time health monitoring and therapeutic interventions.
• Smart Materials: Exploration of metamaterials, 3D/4D structures, and functional composites for responsive and adaptive textile systems.
• Sensing Systems: Integration of physical, chemical, and optical sensors into wearable platforms for diverse applications.
• Medical Devices: Innovations in electrostimulation, non-invasive diagnostics, and remote patient monitoring.
• Sport and Performance: Research into environmental physiology, human performance, and wearable design for athletic enhancement.

Broader Impact at NTU

Wearable technology research at NTU is supported by facilities like the Medical Technologies Innovation Facility (MTIF), a £23M investment accelerating the translation of smart textiles into regulated medical products. The university’s collaborative ethos fosters partnerships with hospitals, industry leaders, and international research networks, positioning NTU as a key player in the future of wearable innovation.

Contact us

We welcome collaboration, inquiries and opportunities to engage with researchers, industry partners and students. Please feel free to get in touch with us using the details below.

Professor Yang Wei
Smart Wearable Research Group Lead
Email: yang.wei@ntu.ac.uk

Most recently published papers from SWR group (2019):

• M Liu, T Ward, D Young, H Matos, Y Wei, J Adams, K Yang, Electronic textiles based wearable electrotherapy for pain relief, Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 2019.
• Y Wei, N Gracheva, J Tudor, A Non-invasive Subtle Pulse Rate Extraction Method Based on Eulerian Video Magnification, UK Workshop on Computational Intelligence, 2019.
• Abiodun Komolafe, Russel Torah, Yang Wei, Helga Nunes‐Matos, Menglong Li, Dorothy Hardy, Tilak Dias, Michael Tudor, Stephen Beeby, Integrating Flexible Filament Circuits for E‐Textile Applications, Advanced Materials Technologies, 2019.
• Russel Torah, Yang Wei, Neil Grabham, Yi Li, Marc de Vos, Todor Todorov, Boris Popov, Vlad Marinov, Svetlozar Stoyanov, Vlad Todorov, John Tudor, Enabling platform technology for smart fabric design and printing, Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics, 2019.
• Yang Wei, Kai Yang, Martin Browne, Luciana Bostan, Peter Worsley, Wearable Electrical Stimulation to Improve Lymphatic Function, IEEE Sensors Letters, 2019.
• Frederique J Vanheusden, Michael A Chesnaye, David M Simpson, Steven L Bell, Envelope frequency following responses are stronger for high-pass than low-pass filtered vowels, International journal of audiology, 2019.
• Frederique J Vanheusden, Steven L Bell, Michael A Chesnaye, David M Simpson, Improved Detection of Vowel Envelope Frequency Following Responses Using Hotelling’s T2 Analysis, Ear and hearing, 2019.
• Steve H Faulkner, Iris Broekhuijzen, Margherita Raccuglia, Maarten Hupperets, Simon G Hodder, George Havenith, The Threshold Ambient Temperature for the Use of Precooling to Improve Cycling Time-Trial Performance, International journal of sports physiology and performance, 2019.
• Kate L Spilsbury, Myra A Nimmo, Barry W Fudge, Jamie SM Pringle, Mark W Orme, Steve H Faulkner, Effects of an increase in intensity during tapering on 1500-m running performance, Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2019.
• Katy E Griggs, George Havenith, Mike J Price, Victoria Louise Goosey-Tolfrey, Evaporative heat loss insufficient to attain heat balance at rest in individuals with a spinal cord injury at high ambient temperature, Journal of Applied Physiology, 2019.
• Katy E Griggs, Ben T Stephenson, Michael J Price, Victoria L Goosey-Tolfrey, Heat-related issues and practical applications for Paralympic athletes at Tokyo 2020, Temperature, 2019.
• Masoud SoltanRezaee, Mahdi Bodaghi, Amin Farrokhabadi, Reza Hedayati, Nonlinear stability analysis of piecewise actuated piezoelectric microstructures, International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 2019.
• Mahdi Bodaghi, Reza Noroozi, Ali Zolfagharian, Mohamad Fotouhi, Saeed Norouzi, 4D printing self-morphing structures, Materials, 2019.
• Markellos Ntagios, Habib Nassar, Abhilash Pullanchiyodan, William Taube Navaraj, Ravinder Dahiya, Robotic hands with intrinsic tactile sensing via 3D printed soft pressure sensors, Advanced Intelligent Systems, 2019.
• João Neto, Ayoub Zumeit, William Navaraj, Ravinder Dahiya, Reliability investigation of Via-bridges for flexible electronics, 2019 IEEE International Conference on Flexible and Printable Sensors and Systems (FLEPS), 2019

PhD projects:

• Novel Manufacturing Methods to Realise Electronic Textiles – Working closely with industry to develop next generation manufacturing methods to achieve electronic textiles.
• Effects of optimisation of clothing design and aerodynamics on human thermoregulation during endurance performance