Project number
27056
Organization
UA Department of Biomedical Engineering
Offering
ENGR498-F2026-S2027
Pointe shoes are an essential tool in a ballet dancer’s training and career. These shoes must support dancers as they balance, turn, and jump on the tips of their toes during class, rehearsal, and performance. They must protect the dancer’s foot and ankle alignment, while visually appearing as an extension of the dancer’s line.
Footwear design has changed radically in the past 20 years, yet the technology behind the pointe shoe is centuries old. Most point shoes are handcrafted from traditional materials including paper, glue, leather, canvas, and satin. Shoes made in this way do not provide acceptable fit to every foot, do not adequately transfer energy about the foot, are break down quickly when subjected to repeated loading cycles and as a result they contribute to injury.
The goal of this project is to redesign the pointe shoe from the ground up. To build a shoe that is customized to the foot shape and the needs of the dancer, that transfers energy in an efficient manner, that is can last through many cycles of loading, all the while maintaining the aesthetics of the classic handmade point shoe.
***This project is conducting remote interviews. Please see remote interview sheet on BrightSpace (D2L) to schedule a time to speak to the sponsor.***
Footwear design has changed radically in the past 20 years, yet the technology behind the pointe shoe is centuries old. Most point shoes are handcrafted from traditional materials including paper, glue, leather, canvas, and satin. Shoes made in this way do not provide acceptable fit to every foot, do not adequately transfer energy about the foot, are break down quickly when subjected to repeated loading cycles and as a result they contribute to injury.
The goal of this project is to redesign the pointe shoe from the ground up. To build a shoe that is customized to the foot shape and the needs of the dancer, that transfers energy in an efficient manner, that is can last through many cycles of loading, all the while maintaining the aesthetics of the classic handmade point shoe.
***This project is conducting remote interviews. Please see remote interview sheet on BrightSpace (D2L) to schedule a time to speak to the sponsor.***