{"id":370,"date":"2025-09-25T20:00:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T20:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/kicks-lab\/?page_id=370"},"modified":"2025-11-12T19:12:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T19:12:05","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/projects.etc.cmu.edu\/kicks-lab\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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About Us<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kicks Lab is a Fall 2025 transformational project empowering middle school youth to see themselves as future innovators in STEAM. By blending hands-on shoe design, engineering, and game-based learning, the program transforms abstract concepts into tangible outcomes, building both technical skills and confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The need is urgent. According to a 2025 GAO report, K-12 STEM education in the United States faces systemic barriers, including low teacher pay and lack of institutional support, which limit access to quality STEM instruction. Kicks Lab addresses this gap by creating an experiential pathway where students can learn core design and engineering principles in a way that is accessible, exciting, and deeply relevant to their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team refined its gameplay strategy through the Transformation Game Design workshop, ensuring transformational goals are directly tied to play. At its heart, Kicks Lab is more than a design challenge. It\u2019s a statement: STEAM belongs everywhere, even where resources are scarce and every student deserves the chance to see themselves as an innovator.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Our Partners<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Ansys<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our client Ansys is global engineering simulation software company that develops tools for modeling, simulating, and analyzing the performance of products in various physical environments. Their software helps engineers predict how designs will behave under real-world conditions, including structural, thermal, fluid, and electromagnetic forces, enabling faster innovation and reducing the need for physical prototypes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zellerfeld<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our subject matter expert Zellerfeld is a German-American footwear company specializing in fully 3D-printed, custom-fit shoes. Founded in 2015 and based in Hamburg, it offers an on-demand digital platform for designers and brands, emphasizing design flexibility, sustainability, and reduced waste. The company has collaborated with major brands like Nike and Louis Vuitton and aims to scale 3D-printed shoe production globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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