Human Kinetics & Ergonomics

www.ru.ac.za/humankineticsandergonomics/ At Rhodes University, HKE is offered as an undergraduate course from 1st to 3rd year.

HKE is a unique subject in southern Africa studying the Human Factor in work life, at sports and in any other environments. Biomechanics, Physiology, Anatomy, Human Information Processing, Office Ergonomics, Research Methods are some example of our holisitc course content. HKE also has a strong postgraduate cohort, with Honours, Masters and PhD scholars. The department also offers an Ergonomics sh

15/05/2026

Getting hands-on with VALD!
VALD is a performance testing system used to assess strength, movement, and athletic performance. During Open Day, prospective students got to see live demos of countermovement jumps and handgrip testing, and even try it out for themselves!

Music: Original
Musician: Jared Marc (from Audiio)

Photos from Human Kinetics & Ergonomics's post

15/05/2026

Prospective students got a glimpse into life during Open Day on 9 May. The Department of Human Kinetics and Ergonomics joined other departments in the Science Faculty to share what HKE is all about.
Hopefully we’ll be welcoming some future students to the coolest department on campus soon!

30/04/2026

Last Thursday, our honours class presented their research projects to the postgraduate cohort; An opportunity to refine their public speaking skills and gain valuable, constructive feedback.
We wish them all the best as they continue diving into their research and working to answer their questions.

24/04/2026

In groups, the third year class was instructed to develop an SOP for the different equipment in the department and this week they put to the test the effectiveness of their SOPs. This forms part of their research evaluation and measurement course.

17/04/2026

Next time you’ve been sitting for a while, take a moment to stand up, stretch, or walk!

15/04/2026

In their practical this week, one of the activities the second years were required to do was to set up the Wattbike to suit their stature, warm up, and take on both a 6-second maximal sprint and a 30-second power test ⚡️

15/04/2026

A key component of understanding the concept of energy is mastering the concepts of force, work, and power. In their practical this week, the second years applied these concepts within the context of rowing and cycling.

20/03/2026

In their lecture this week, the honours participated in a PhD pilot study. The purpose of the research project is to establish the number of repetitions of the different tasks in the protocol that are needed to establish learning and avoid the impact of the learning effect on the main study’s results.

02/03/2026

Our opening research seminar for 2026 was given by, our recently graduated, Dr Miriam Mattison. Dr Mattison, a senior lecturer of the HKE department, gave a presentation about her PhD research and journey. This presentation shed light on localised muscle fatigue and proposed new concepts around how we can better understand muscle exertion!

02/03/2026

Recent graduate Dr Miriam Mattison shares insights on the novel concept that emerged from her PhD

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