Baseball Research Center

Educational Outreach

  • Patrick Drane lectured in the National Academy of Sciences Distinctive Voices Program at the Jonsson Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts on July 31, 2012.  The Distinctive Voices lectures are available through a YouTube Channel.
  • USA Science & Engineering Festival – The Baseball Research Center has participated in both the 1st and 2nd USA Science and Engineering Festivals held in Washington DC.
  • TEAMS Academy - Course for High School Students who are accepted to the UML TEAMS Academy Program - Bat Engineering Design.
  • UMass Lowell Design Camp - As part of Design Camp, DC High Tech, a program for sophomores and juniors in area high schools, the composites lab and baseball lab help each student develop, produce, and test their own fiberglass composite baseball bat. See photos from previous years.
  • Tours of the Baseball Research Center can be scheduled for the public where the general physics of baseball and engineering applications are explained and demonstrated.
  • The Baseball Research Center appeared in a November 2008 segment titled "Chearleading" in Time Warp on the Discovery Channel.
  • The Baseball Research Center appeared in a July 2007 segment titled "Science of Summer" on the National Geographic Channel.
  • PBS’s “Wired Science” presented the scientific work that is performed at the UMLBRC for Major League Baseball to ensure the baseball is made to MLB specifications and has the same performance from year to year.
  • JimandOzzie3x4A segment of PBS’s “Scientific American Frontiers” hosted by Alan Alda presented the scientific work that is performed in the UMLBRC. The episode entitled “On the Ball” also showcased the UMass Lowell Baseball Team helping perform some tests.
  • Professor James Sherwood co-hosted an Electronic Field Trip with Baseball Hall for Famer Ozzie Smith. The Field Trip entitled “Fastballs, Flips and Physics – Science on the Sandlot” was seen by millions of students in grades 6 -12 in February 2004.