Role
Katy is a Principal Lecturer in Sport Engineering within the Department of Engineering, whose teaching and research lie at the intersection of human performance, physiology, and sport engineering. With expertise in exercise and environmental physiology and Paralympic and disability sport, she explores how athletes interact with sports equipment/apparel to enhance comfort, support, and performance. Katy is the module leader for Experimental Biomechanics and Physiology and Experimental Methods in Human Performance modules on the BEng Sport Engineering course.
Career overview
Katy's career has centred on exercise physiology, with a particular focus on human health, physical performance, and environmental physiology across both able-bodied and disability sport.
Katy completed her BSc (Hons) in Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Bath (2005-2009). During her degree, she undertook an industrial placement with the Army Recruiting and Training Division of the Ministry of Defence, where she contributed to research aimed at reducing injury and illness among military recruits during initial training.
She subsequently completed an MSc in Exercise Physiology at Loughborough University (2009-2010) before joining the Environmental Ergonomics Research Centre as a researcher (2010-2012). In this role, she worked on a European Union-funded project focused on the development of advanced personal protective clothing with integrated monitoring technology designed to detect and manage heat stress.
Katy then began her PhD within the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport at Loughborough University (2012-2016), investigating the thermoregulatory responses of athletes with spinal cord injury. Alongside her doctoral research, she provided sport science support to several Paralympic squads, helping athletes optimise performance in training and competition environments.
Following the completion of her PhD, Katy returned to the Environmental Ergonomics Research Centre (2016-2017), where she collaborated on a range of research projects with industry partners, including Adidas and Nissan. Before joining Nottingham Trent University in 2018, she was a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science at Oxford Brookes University (2017-2018).
Research areas
Katy is part of the Sport, Health and Performance Enhancement Research Centre and Women in Sport research theme.
Since joining Nottingham Trent University, Katy's research has focused on enhancing sports apparel and equipment, with a particular interest in the interaction between the human body and the products designed to support health, wellbeing, and performance in both sporting and everyday contexts. Her work investigates how apparel and equipment design, fabric characteristics and fit influence support, comfort, physiological function and overall human performance. A key strand of her research focuses on women across the lifespan. This work has included evaluating the comfort, support, and performance of sports bras during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and the postnatal period. Through this work, Katy seeks to enhance both physical performance and participation in physical activity, exercise and sport by developing evidence-based solutions that better meet the needs of women at different life stages.
Opportunities arise to carry out postgraduate research towards an MPhil/PhD in the areas identified above. Please contact Katy directly to discuss future opportunities. Further information may be obtained on the NTU Research Degrees website.
External activity
Katy is a reviewer for a number of international publications in her field, including Journal of Applied Physiology, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, Ergonomics, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport and Journal of Sports Sciences. She has been an external examiner for PhDs.
She has also been invited to present her work at a number of international conferences.
Publications
- Griggs, K., Arnet, U., van der Slikke R. and Flueck, J.L. (2025). The Routledge Handbook of Disability Sport Science. Taylor & Francis. https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Disability-Sport-Science/Griggs-Arnet-vanderSlikke-Flueck/p/book/9781032502656
- Reeves, K., James, R.M., Griggs, K.E. (2025).Changes in Physical Activity and Breast-Related Factors During and After Pregnancy. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 33(1). https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/wspaj/33/1/article-wspaj.2024-0125.xml
- Reeves, K., James, R.M., Griggs, K.E. and Mears, A.C. (2025). Assessing current maternity/nursing sports bras and providing recommendations for future product development. Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, 29 (4), 738 – 754.
- https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/RJTA-12-2023-0138/full/html
- Griggs, K. E. (2025). Wheelchair satisfaction and recommended improvements of manual wheelchairs in the UK. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 20 (1), 163-170.https://doi.org/10.1080/17483107.2024.2359473
- Faulkner, S., Hough, J., Boat, R., James, R. and Griggs, K. (2025). The physiological and psychological demands of amateur cyclists riding the full route of the Tour de France. Journal of Science and Cycling, 14(1). https://www.jsc-journal.com/index.php/JSC/article/view/975
- Faulkner, S.H., Jobling, P., Wilson, N., James, R., Martin, E. and Griggs, K. (2025). The impact of temperature and skeletal muscle oxygen saturation on 40 km cycling time trial performance of male cyclists. Physiological Reports, 13(13), p.e70434. https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.14814/phy2.70434
- Vadapalli, S.K., Vanheusden, F.J., Butt, A.T., Abdelgaied, A., Mansfield, N.J. and Griggs, K.E. (2025). Thriving through trials and tribulations: the impact of the ‘Grand Challenge’on engineering student resilience skills. European Journal of Engineering Education, 50(2), 381-405. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03043797.2024.2397420
- Faulkner, S.H., Jobling, P., Griggs, K.E. and Siegkas, P. (2024). Individual aerodynamic and physiological data are critical to optimise cycling time trial performance: one size doesn’t fit all. Sports Engineering. 27 (4), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12283-023-00446-0
- Griggs, K.E. and Vanheusden, F.J. (2022). Integrated fan cooling of the lower back for wheelchair users. Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering, 9, p.20556683221126994. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20556683221126994
Press expertise
- Human and sport performance, particularly in relation to physiological and environmental factors
- Sports clothing, including sports bras
- Thermoregulation
- Paralympic and disability sport
- Sport technology
- Occupational and Environmental Physiology