We asked the people working at Loughborough some questions on how they came about

'We had worked on the development of personalised football boots and this was a natural progression.'

In what way is the rapid manufacturing process pioneering?

'The SLS process allows us to make personalised products (in this case the outsole for sprint spikes) very easily with a lot of design freedom.'

How does the technology enable the athlete to maximise their explosive power?

'We take a wide range of biomechanical and performance measurements form the athlete and use these to optimise the shoes for the athlete. In particular we control the stiffness of the outsole by designing the outsole appropriately for the individual.'

At what stage is the project?

'We are working with elite athletes and have evidence that we can optimise the explosive power for each athlete.'

What challenges have had to be overcome?

'We have needed to characterise and control the properties of the outsoles so that our designs provide exactly what each athlete requires.'

What skills are involved?

'Technical understanding of the manufacturing process and materials capabilities and
weaknesses along with good experimental planning and, importantly, an ability to communicate effectively with a range of people from different backgrounds such as technical, design and athletics.'

Wordbank

Selective laser sintering - is a rapid manufacturing technique that uses a high power laser to fuse small particles of plastic, metal or ceramic powders into a mass representing a desired 3-dimensional object. The laser selectively fuses powdered material by scanning cross-sections generated from a 3-D digital description of the part (for example from a CAD file or scan data) on the surface of a powder bed. After each cross-section is scanned, the powder bed is lowered by one layer thickness, a new layer of material is applied on top, and the process is repeated until the part is completed.