This feature originally appeared in the Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.



As one of the top cross country and track & field distance runners for the Golden Bears, senior Garrett Corcoran has learned much about maximizing performance. Through years of training, he has progressed to earn All-Pac-12 and All-American honors and qualified for NCAA Championships.
 
The same focus also inspires him in his academic work. A mechanical engineering major at Cal, Corcoran has developed a keen interest in biomechanics. What he's found is that these two primary concentrations in his life – running and science – can have essentially the same objective.
 
"That's what gets me excited about using mechanical engineering to help the human body because that's my main goal in athletics, just optimizing performance of the human body," Corcoran said. "Being able to use mechanics and machines to do that gets me excited."
 
Arriving at Cal out of Villa Park High School in Southern California, where he was a CIF state cross country champion and Foot Locker prep All-American, Corcoran entered with aspirations similar to thousands of other students in Berkeley – to be able to help society at large once he had his degree. Nearly four years later, that outlook has not changed.
 
"I thought it would be great to learn how to build machines," Corcoran said. "I was good in physics in high school, good at math, so I jumped into engineering without realizing everything that came with it."
 
The amount of computer and coding work required surprised him at first, but Corcoran quickly adapted. Always a strong student – he had better than a 4.8 GPA and was a National AP Scholar in high school – he owns a GPA above 3.6 at Cal and has multiple Pac-12 All-Academic recognition awards.
 
This spring, Corcoran is enrolled in a ME 131 – Vehicle Dynamics and Control – which his professor, Francesco Borrelli, describes as the premier undergraduate class of its kind in the country. Not only are Corcoran and his classmates learning about how vehicles operate, but they are studying how to make them autonomous using such features as cameras, radar and accelerometers that give feedback to computers to control the cars.
 
Corcoran's enthusiasm for biomechanics stems from a class he took last fall where he worked on a project designing actuators for exoskeleton suits, which can help paraplegics and those rehabilitating from accidents.
 
"They weren't able to walk without the suit, but now they can walk," Corcoran said. "I think that's really cool, being able to apply something that seems a little unrelated to biology and put it to use in that way."
 
Corcoran plans to expand his knowledge in the field through a one-year biomechanics master's program at Cal after he graduates in May.
 
"I can take my mechanical engineering expertise and apply it to the human body and design machines or devices that can aid performance or aid people in rehabilitation," Corcoran said.
 
Corcoran is even involved with a new sports technology course through the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology where he and his classmates search for ways technology-based innovations can give athletes and teams competitive advantages. Using his experience as a runner, Corcoran's team is studying wearable technology, such as heart-rate monitors, and looking for ways to help athletes train more efficiently.
 
Perhaps nowhere else could someone combine athletics and academics in such a way. For that, Corcoran is thankful for his opportunity to do both at Cal.