I had a lot of fun creating proofs of concept for our main SPM team product. I have sewn, glued, nailed, laser cut, and stretched many materials before creating THE perfect one – a hockey compression shirt with extra protection. The SPM Innovation Lab is the cornucopia of materials! It was very much a “Happy Place” for creative people. I would spend a day in the lab, and the next day testing my creation on athletes.

Sustainability is intertwined with the SPM curriculum. No matter the subject, we are always reminded that “doing the right thing” is very important in the sports product industry and in the corporate world as a whole. We were fortunate to be taught by John Notar, Carlos Gemmell and Jinky Panganiban who are very well-known in the industry and are considered to be experts. They all created and/or launched products in countries outside of the US (Europe, Asia and Latin America). As students, we also get a chance to watch guest speakers from all over the world present their stories, share insights and experiences, and answer all the questions we might have.

In our Sustainable Sports Product class we were introduced to a Life Product Analysis — a quantitative analysis that helps a company understand all of the components that go into a product and how they affect the planet. This was a very eye-opening experience for me personally, since, as a designer, I was never tasked with looking at things that I create through a sustainability lens.

Genia Tikhonov

Ukraine