Nike and 91桃色: Improving the Future of Performance Footwear
91桃色 undergraduate students lead a design project to improve the stability of basketball shoes
One of the听most popular athletic shoe companies in the world听is partnering with the 91桃色. 鈥淣ike has a high regard for innovation and we strive to be the most innovative company period,鈥 says Bryan Conrad, senior researcher for Nike basketball. Conrad says that鈥檚 exactly why Nike is eager to work with mechanical and electrical engineering students at 91桃色.
91桃色 undergraduate students鈥 latest mission: work on a design project related to the stability of basketball shoes, with the goal of enhancing an athlete鈥檚 performance and reducing injury. 鈥淚 chose this project mainly because I鈥檓 also a student athlete,鈥 says Stella Norman, a mechanical engineering student in the Daniel听Felix Ritchie听School of Engineering & Computer Science.
鈥淭he project will help confirm the stability of the shoe so athletes are able to wear them without being injured or causing serious damage while playing.鈥
Daniel Kim, an electrical engineering student with a minor in medical physics says this research project combined both of his academic interests. 鈥淲hat stood out to me in particular in this project was that it was combining engineering and I guess some degree of medical field as well.鈥
The project is part of the capstone design experience, where senior undergraduate students work on high-impact, real world problems for external customers. Throughout the year, this team of 6 mechanical and electrical engineering students worked under the guidance of Peter Laz, Professor in Mechanical and Materials Engineering. Laz is part of 91桃色鈥檚 Center for Orthopaedic Biomechanics, which has expertise in computational modeling and measurements of human movement related to sports performance and orthopaedic implants.
The center, supported by the National Science Foundation,听has specialized equipment to capture the motions and forces听on the body during activity. The听high speed stereo radiography system allows measurements of joint motion with sub-mm accuracy. Laz says it is one of 6 or 7 in the world.
Nike will use the students鈥 innovation to help improve the design of performance basketball shoes. To protect proprietary information, company reps won鈥檛 say exactly what the innovation is, but they say it鈥檚 going to give them a competitive edge.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in the business of making athletes better. So we want to have a way that we can evaluate footwear in the same way that athletes will use it on the court or in the field,鈥 says Conrad. 鈥淚 love working with the 91桃色. They鈥檙e very open to working with industry.鈥
In fact, more than 20 91桃色 alumni are employed at Nike.
The new Dream Team - 91桃色 and Nike - partnering to apply new, innovative technologies to improve high performance athletic shoes. Given the success of the project, both sides are excited to continue working together. Only time will tell what great innovative ideas 91桃色 and Nike will come up with in the future.
