The New Balance shoe company recently announced that it has teamed up with 3D Systems to develop a high performance running shoe with a 3D printed midsole. According to 3D Systems’ company blog post, the midsole is the portion of the shoe base that is located between the outsole (part that touches the ground) and the upper sole (the portion that touches your foot).
Thus, the midsole provides the necessary cushioning and support to your foot. 3D Systems’ printers work by transforming data input from the format generated by 3D design software, CAD software, or 3D scanning and sculpting devices to printed parts using integrated, engineered plastic, metal, nylon, rubber, wax, and composite print materials, according to the company profile.
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By 3D printing the midsole of their shoes, New Balance can optimize the structure to put as much or as little material precisely where it is needed. This allows each shoe to be customized for each runner at an entirely new level of detail. New and organic geometries are possible through the bottom-up process of building layer-by-layer via 3D printing.
The characteristics of the midsole that can now be further customized by New Balance include the flexibility, strength, weight, and durability. New Balance has not only benefitted from 3D Systems’ advanced printers, but also their new materials. By leveraging 3D Systems’ new elastomeric powder and working in close collaboration with scientists, New Balance’s running experts and biomechanical engineers have developed a shoe that will make larger players like Nike and Adidas take serious notice.
New Balance senior executives expressed their excitement in the New Balance company press release. Sean Murphy, New Balance Senior Manager of Innovation and Engineering described the partnership as a project that “represents an unprecedented technical collaboration in footwear.”
Furthermore, Murphy described the process of delivering the shoe by explaining how New Balance “paired experts in running and biomechanics with leaders in plastics engineering, material development and generative design to drive footwear design and manufacturing.” New Balance President and CEO, Robert DeMartini, is encouraged by his company’s progress as an “important step forward to becoming one of the world’s top athletic brands.”
The shoes will start touring in 2016, in an effort to beat out athletic shoe giants Nike and Adidas. Nike has been testing its 3D Flyknit technology and Adidas has its own 3D technology project called Futurecraft 3D. Both Nike and Adidas were making investments in 3D printed shoe technology as early as 2013, but have yet to release a product. Perhaps Nike and Adidas are waiting to see how successful New Balance is before unveiling their own 3D printed shoes.
3D Systems will first display the shoes in January 2016 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. New Balance will first release the shoes in April 2016 in Boston, where their headquarters is located. Following the Boston release, the shoes will be sold in select New Balance retail locations around the globe.