Personalised sports shoes are heading for the high street growth story

Pioneering research and skills

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Personalised Sports Shoes are Heading for the High Street Running shoes that meet individual athletes’ needs – delivering more comfort, better performance and improved protection from injury – are being produced as a result of groundbreaking EPSRC-funded research at Loughborough University. Elite athletes are already using the shoes in competitive races and, within a few years, similar customised footwear could be widely available in high street shops.

A team at Loughborough’s Innovative Manufacturing and Construction Research Centre (IMCRC) have proved that quality sports footwear can be produced quickly and at competitive cost using advanced manufacturing techniques that build up products, layer by layer, from personalised computer-generated designs. The techniques used were Laser Sintering and High-Speed Sintering, a patented technology invented at Loughborough with EPSRC support.

Sports shoe manufacturers, including major brands, have been quick to take the lessons on board to produce footwear components better suiting individuals’ needs. Several have already brought products to market, with more poised to do so.

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