Footwear can get very hot and uncomfortable during exercise due to excessive sweat, friction, and lack of airflow. Footwear also mechanically breaks down over time, which means the last mile used feels very different from the first mile.
Traditional materials employed as cushioning for athletic footwear have additional limitations (including durability, stability, thermal and moisture management, environmental impact, weight, and aesthetics) and are almost all petroleum-based foams.
What we're looking for
We are looking for technologies that can deliver increased thermal comfort through better airflow across the foot while maintaining key properties in athletic footwear (energy return, compression set, weight). These approaches could include mechanical cushioning systems, non-polymer/foams if applicable, and biobased solutions.
Solutions of interest include:
Scalable molding processes
Biodegradable materials and/or composites
Ultrafast printing techniques that require very little post processing
Structural fibers and textiles
Adhesive free construction materials
Our must-have requirements are:
Compatible with standard manufacturing techniques (injection molding, compression molding). Alternatively, other methods must approach the cost and speed of these common practices.
Provide a measurable/perceivable benefit over traditional products (ie EVA foams) pertaining to thermal comfort.
Our nice-to-have's are:
Sustainability (i.e. compostable, biodegradable or recyclable)
Tunable mechanical properties (Easily change density, hardness, impact properties within a materials family)
Gradable mechanical properties within single parts (Demonstrate the ability to vary properties within a part. i.e. hardness increases continuously through a part from one side to another)
A unique external visual aesthetic
What's out of scope:
Fluorine-based chemistries
Solvents that cannot be recycled
Acceptable technology readiness levels (TRL):
Levels 3-9
What we can offer you
Eligible partnership models:
Sponsored research
Material transfer
Gift (Unrestricted grant)
Co-development
Supply/purchase
Licensing
Benefits:
Sponsored Research
Funding is proposal specific starting with proof of concept ranging from 25,000 to 100,000 for a period of 6-12 months with the possibility for expansion.
Gift (Unrestricted grant)
Gifts are available depending on partners expertise and range from 10,000 and 50,000.
Expertise
Partners may engage industry leaders to better understand the challenges to commercialization and brainstorm additional opportunities that can align research programs with commercial interests.
Tools and Technologies
If TRL warrants, partners will be able to use commercial manufacturing facilities to create materials and/or prototypes.
Product field testing can also be provided to access commercial viability
Facilities and Services
Partners may access our world class characterization lab for textiles and footwear to evaluate materials performance
Manufacturing services can also be used to progress prototypes
Who we are
Under Armour has partnered with industry-leading organizations including The University of Maryland's Engineering Department, The Dow Chemical Company, Huntsman, Lectra, Bemis, Epson, Desma, and 3dMD, among others. These partners and others will team up with Under Armour to drive innovation in product and process technology.