
Nike has unveiled an 84,000 square-foot technical laboratory on one of the floors at Nike World Headquarters located in Portland, Ore. It’s five times bigger than the other one and can test every type of sport.
The facility has a full-size basketball court surrounded by motion cameras and a 200-meter endurance track, a straightaway of 100 meters, and a synthetic turf training surface. There’s an outdoor training ramp that extends over 500 feet. There’s been a Nike Sport Research Laboratory (NSRL) for more than 40 years. The first one was located in Exeter, N.H. Kathy Gomez, Nike’s vice director of innovation for footwear, stated that Nike’s mission is to create “athletes better and create a better world for athletes.”
The Lab is part of the LeBron James Innovation Center. LeBron James Innovation Center, where researchers work with designers and robotics experts to develop new ideas. Prototyping machines allow rapid prototyping and the capability to design the prototype in less than an hour.
Therefore, the company can examine an athlete’s issue from different angles and solve the problem. The company can tackle anything from biology to chemistry to push the boundaries of a machine and create an entirely different experience when dealing with materials. Utilizing an analytical framework, companies can effectively communicate an issue, determine the solution, do a competitive analysis, and develop a strategy for going to market.
The brand new Lab assists Nike in avoiding risk and allows it to create new ventures. The design strategy will fuel the future of innovation and increase growth.
The brand-new Nike innovation center located in Portland occurred when Nike faced closures in Vietnam because of severe Covid-19 outbreaks. It is, however, an exquisitely designed facility that will ensure that Nike is at the forefront of technological advancement.