ABOUT US
The Sports Product Development Club was founded at Oregon State University in 2017. The goal of the club is to provide students who share an interest in the science, engineering, and business of sports products, a community to discuss, learn, network, and further push the technology of sport.
WHO WE ARE
The Sports Product Development club is a place for anyone who loves sports and wants to make them better for everyone. Our club has members from a diverse set of majors and backgrounds.
Picture by Jordan Peterson
OUR THREE PILLARS
Our focus in the Sports Product Development club corresponds to our three pillars: Guest Speakers, Industry Tours, and Product Development.
Guest Speakers
We've hosted guest speakers from a variety of companies in the sporting industry including Nike AMI, Take Flight, Sigma Design, the Adidas Future team, Friton Design, the Oregon Sports Angels, and more. It is a great opportunity to learn more about different industries and how they sell products in the real world. Students can ask questions about resumes, product ideation, marketing strategies, etc. while making valuable networking connections. The Oregon State Launch Academy has also given many presentations to help our members create products that fulfill consumer needs and prepare for pitch competitions.
Industry Tours
Industry tours give members the opportunity to see how leading companies in the sports industry function on a day-to-day basis. We get to see the behind-the-scenes view of product development, testing, ideation, and more. Check out our Industry Tours tab for more information on past tours.
Product Development
Product development is the main focus of our club. It involves going through all the ideation and prototyping stages for a product over the course of a school year. We split into teams of about 5-15 people who share a common interest (such as in a specific sport) and work together to build a product to solve a problem in the sports industry. Everyone has an opportunity to be hands-on with the prototype and no experience is necessary.
Our Product Development Process
We begin the product development process with a problem statement of an issue or inconvenience in sports. We then methodically go through an ideation phase where we consider all possible solutions and how those could take form physically. Next is prototyping with low cost supplies while we continue researching the best options. Finally is the development stage which requires continuous reevaluation and redesigning in order to build the best product possible.