Wiltshire Business
Boarding school
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| Liza Brooks |
LEIGH ROBINSON meets Liza Brooks who is carving out a career in the competitive world of hi-tech snowboards.
WILTSHIRE student and entrepreneur Liza Brooks will be stripping snowboards bare to find the most lightweight and durable materials for a new range of snowboards offered by her start-up company, True Snowboards.
The budding entrepreneur and snowboarding enthusiast, who is based at Cranfield University at Shrivenham, launched True Snowboards 18 months ago, using the knowledge gained on her engineering doctorate in advanced snowboard design.
Having completed the business management modules on the four-year course, Liza, 23, is just about to start two years of lab and field- based research testing, and comparing different types of materials that can withstand extreme pressures and strains.
Liza, who lives at Kington Langley, near Chippenham, defines the products as "designed by engineers that snowboard", setting the boards apart from the market leaders.
All of Liza's stock has been constructed from high-quality poplar wood and glass fibre, while many of her competitors have opted for cheaper and less durable alternatives.
Her aim is to develop the best quality boards.
"The first stage of my research will look at integrating man-made materials into the core - possibly similar to those used in Formula 1 racing cars," she said.
"I will also test other methods and resources for snowboard construction, many of which will never have been applied in that capacity before.
"I'm hoping these modifications to typical snowboard structures will create a homogenous composite snowboard, and after the lab work is finished, the new boards will be tested by professional riders."
It seems that Liza's hard work to date has paid off, with three of the company's sponsored youth riders - Cody Hierons, Ollie Jackson (pictured above) and Sam Rogers - achieving a marked improvement in the recent Ticket To Ride events using True Competition, Liza's latest advanced unisex board for advanced freestyle.
Cody said: "The board is nice and flexible. It's easy to control when riding, and I can do combo tricks on rails."
All three riders were continuing to use the new board when they represented True at the British Championships in Laax, Switzerland at the end of March.
Board prices start from £175 and can be ordered from www.truesnowboards.com.
Cranfield University is a postgraduate institution with a worldwide reputation for excellence and expertise in aerospace, automotive, defence, engineering, environment and water, health, management and manufacturing. The University comprises Cranfield Health, School of Management, School of Applied Sciences, School of Engineering, and The Defence College of Management and Technology at Shrivenham. For more information, visit www.cranfield.ac.uk.
2:53pm Tuesday 1st April 2008
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