Jackson Burnett
Author: Jackson Burnett | Major: Mechanical Engineering | Semester: Fall 2022
My name is Jackson Burnett and during the Fall 2022 term, I worked on the topic of 3D printed running shoe parts under the direction of Dr. Han Hu. I am a Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student and Dr. Hu is an assistant professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering here at the University of Arkansas.
My research focuses on the idea of 3D printing shoe parts so that they can be created more efficiently and more sustainably. The basic premise is that the current status of shoe production is often very wasteful and has a high carbon footprint. I am looking into ways to help reduce the amount of material used to create shoes and to reduce the amount of transportation needed to transport supplies which would both cut down on the carbon footprint of the shoe market.
3D printed shoe parts would also allow shoes to be more customizable and tailor-made to the needs of customers instead of just producing large quantities of different varieties of shoes. This would allow for the shoe market to be less wasteful as shoes could simply be created for the person who is purchasing them and not for a large audience where many of the shoes will go unpurchased and unused.
To find my research topic, I talked with my research mentor, Dr. Han Hu, who originally asked me to help another undergraduate student on a different research topic called the Freshlight Project which I worked on during the Spring 2022 semester. After the conclusion of the Spring 2022 semester, me and my mentor sat down and discussed different research topics I could look into for the upcoming semester, and I eventually settled on the idea of 3D printed running shoe parts since I am an avid runner and was interested in the field of running apparel. It was a good way to combine my personal interest of running with my studies of mechanical engineering.
What I’ve learned about my research topic is that there is a lot more that goes into creating a pair of running shoes than I had ever thought. There are way more pieces to it than I had imagined, and there are a wide variety of different materials that can be used to create a single pair of shoes. I also learned how wasteful the sports apparel industry can be, since they create a lot of different products to ensure they meet the market demand, but they often can be wasteful by creating an over-abundance of products that go unsold and unused.
One challenge I have faced in my research is creating my own midsole and shank design using Solidworks (a CAD software). There is a lot of complex geometry that goes into the human foot and thus that complex geometry spills over into the world of shoe design. The way I overcame this problem is to continue working on the design and reiterating ideas until you eventually find something that works.
The next step for me in my research is to continue working on my Additive Manufacturing of Sustainable Running Shoes project until the end of the Spring 2023 semester wherein I will continue to research sustainable business practices and continue working in Solidworks to create a printable midsole and shank design for running shoes.