Physical employment standards
Research examining the physical demands of occupational roles and the development and validation of physical employment standards.
Tim Doyle
Professor of Biomechanics and Human Performance
I work in biomechanics and human performance, with a particular interest in measuring people in real-world settings and using those measurements to inform decisions.
Research
My research covers biomechanics and human performance, wearable and field-based measurement, tactical and occupational performance, individual responses to physical stress, and prediction and personalisation.
150+ publications
$3m+ research and project funding
Selected work
Human performance in operational settings
Research examining physical performance, fatigue, load carriage and individual responses to demanding occupational environments.
Wearable and field-based biomechanics
Evaluation and application of wearable sensors, IMUs and markerless motion capture for measurement outside traditional laboratory settings.
Selected applied work
Aviation rescue firefighter physical employment standards
Research to quantify the physical demands of aviation rescue firefighting and develop and validate physical employment standard tests.
Australian Defence human performance
Former Human Performance Scientist with the Australian Department of Defence, with research including military performance, injury screening, load carriage biomechanics and physical employment standards.
Field-based measurement
Research using wearable sensors and other field-based methods to measure biomechanics and physical performance outside traditional laboratory settings.
Technology
Forge Human
Forge Human is a collection of iPhone and Apple Watch apps I build for training, recovery, protocols and health-performance tracking.
ThermaForge
Tracks cold sessions and logs heat sessions across Apple Watch and iPhone, with simple session timing, history and recovery data.
AdaptForge
Records interventions and adherence alongside relevant Apple Health metrics so changes can be reviewed over time.
DraftForge
Creates personalised cycling training programs based on riding experience, goals, physical considerations and weekly availability.
BioForge
Generates tailored prompts and persistent project instructions for fitness, training, nutrition and recovery conversations in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok.
About
Tim Doyle is Professor of Biomechanics and Human Performance at Macquarie University. His research focuses on biomechanics and human performance, particularly tactical and occupational performance, wearable and field-based measurement, and individual responses to physical demands.
Before joining Macquarie University, he worked as a Human Performance Scientist with the Australian Department of Defence. His research has included military personnel, aviation rescue firefighters and sporting populations, and has covered load carriage, fatigue, physical employment standards, strength assessment, wearable technology and field biomechanics.
He is President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Biomechanics and Co-Chair of the 2027 Congress of the International Society of Biomechanics. He also develops health and performance software through Forge Human.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy in Biomechanics
Edith Cowan University, 2006
Master of Science in Exercise Science
Ball State University, 2003
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Human Movement Studies
University of Queensland, 2000
Professional Qualifications
- ASCA Professional Strength & Conditioning Coach
- NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)
- ESSA Level 2 Accredited Sports Scientist