Surfing scientist Marc in het Panhuis set to transform University of Wollongong into a sporting mecca

Professor Marc in het Panhuis has taken on the new role of Dean of Sport at the University of Wollongong, and rightly so, due to his passion stretching across many codes.

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Aside from dedicating his engineering research to surfing and performance analysis, he's also championing many sports in his personal life like AFL, surf life saving and tennis, and is even a director of a bowls club.

"As much as I'm addicted to surfing we also watch every AFL game that gets played," Professor Marc said.

"And I've always been very passionate about community and volunteering."

The bucket-list item the professor wants to tick off from his new role is creating a facility like UOW's Early Start - but for sport. It would bring together the public, elite athletes, sports clubs, research, students and facilities.

"Everything will be part of an of an institutional approach so that it's really clear, if you ... want to do something about sport, this is where you go," the professor said.

The sporting centre is part of the UOW Sports Strategy 2023-2028, and Professor Marc believes it not too difficult a task as the uni already has the infrastructure and programs needed.

UOW has developed sporting education and research partnerships with a number of international and national organisations through its global sports programs, including Tottenham Hotspur, the Crusaders, St George Illawarra Dragons, and the Illawarra Hawks, and supported community initiatives such as last year's UCI Road World Championships.

The University offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in the sporting space, including the Bachelor of Sport, Bachelor of Exercise Science, Bachelor of Business (Sports Marketing and Management) and the Master of Clinical Exercise Physiology. This is the first time that UOW's sporting education, research and community endeavours will be formalised and brought together under one overarching strategy.

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In coming weeks the professor will announce his Surf Flex Lab's latest partnership which will see a well-known athlete join them in a quest to be the best at their game.

The other major box the new Dean wants to tick off is helping more women take up sport as well as fostering female athletes in their chosen field.

"I'm particularly interested in establishing alliances with female teams - whether that be a WL team, AFLW ... if I can achieve that I will be really, really proud, and on a community level as well," he said.

"On a personal level I've just signed up to be the AusKick coordinator for AFL Kiama. One of the key things the AFL is trying to achieve is to increase the female participation in the sport. So it's a wider thing that plays out in the community."