Our Research Team

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Past Team Member
Nasif Iskander, Educator/Co-Investigator

My interest in this project stems from the attempt to use physics to understand and explain how things happen in the real world--in this case how things happen on a tennis court.

I worked with John Yandell to devise a method for determining the speed of the tennis ball over the course of its flight, not just at the single moment recorded by the radar gun. This led to a filming project at a local pro tournament in San Jose, and the creation of a special software program to analyze the video data. My work with John and the other scientists on the project proves it: athletes and researchers can work together for common goals, and get excited about each other's work. After our filming, it was a real thrill to sit at courtside and watch Pete Sampras hit 120mph serves.

The project has even inspired me to take up tennis for the first time myself. According to John, I have excellent hand eye coordination and show promise!

My background is in physics, both in research and in teaching. I am a 1987 honors graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in physics. I have done graduate work in high energy physics and applied sciences and technology.

In addition I have extensive research experience in the fields of synchrotron x-ray and x-ray microscopy, and in computer programming.