Sports Product Design Graduate Student Profiles

Growing up in Denver, Colorado, Clara has always had a love for sport, movement, and an active lifestyle. As an athlete, she grew up swimming competitively—the pool gave her not only a deep sense of peace but also the ability to tap into strength, discipline, and competitive drive. 

Clara pursued a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Missouri, guided by her passion for creating to serve others. Fascinated by how things, systems, and people move, she is driven to optimize this space by pinpointing areas for improvement and implementing creative solutions. She believes that when you connect people, the products they use, and the ways they are made, you open a powerful space for innovation. Her focus is on designing products that bring people closer to movement by supporting the human body in all the different ways it moves. 

LinkedIn 

Abbey grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with a love for sports, crafts, and outdoor activities. Whether she was at her own sports practice, absorbed in an art project, or cheering for a Chicago sports team, she was in her element. 

Abbey graduated from Carthage College with a degree in Graphic Design. Her creativity and love for sports led her to spend most of her undergraduate years working for her school’s athletic department, where she concentrated on her graphic design and photography skills from the sidelines. She had the opportunity to both photograph and compete in several NCAA Division III Championships during her time at Carthage on the Track & Field team. She spent the last five summers gaining experience as a gymnastics coach, giving back to the sport she dedicated her younger years to in any way possible. She looks forward to combining her design experience with her athletic perspective to create products that address real challenges athletes encounter on their road to success. 

Abbey’s Website 

Sam was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. At three years old, he learned to ski and spent his childhood surfing, hiking, and participating in a variety of outdoor and team sports. His lifelong use of sports products sparked a deep curiosity about the design process behind the gear he relied on. 

Sam pursued a bachelor's degree in Planning, Public Policy and Management with a minor in Geography at the University of Oregon. His studies emphasized accessibility, sustainability, and communication, shaping the way one thinks about design. As a student, he joined the University’s ski team, further strengthening his appreciation for the products that enhanced his performance. Sam is particularly interested in designing equipment and apparel for outdoor sports. He aims to create products where style, performance, and sustainability work together to elevate the user experience. 

www.linkedin.com/in/sam-calkins-7321a3208 

Originally from Sterling, VA, Ethan’s passion for active, outdoor living began on the soccer field, though recurring injuries limited his ability to participate in the activities he loved. Soon realizing that this was a widespread issue, he understood that there was a global need for change. Ethan earned a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Virginia Tech, gaining hands-on experience in biomechanics research both there and at the University of Virginia. This sparked his curiosity into how scientific insight could translate into dynamic solutions. Exploring this in his capstone project, he designed and fabricated a custom full-body brace for a veteran with osteoarthritis, blending physiology, user-centered design, and tailoring techniques. 

Emphasizing safety and comfort, Ethan is committed to developing innovative footwear and apparel for soccer, running, and beyond. He plans to combine biomechanics, anatomy, research, and design to give people of all backgrounds the confidence to move freely and without fear. 

http://www.linkedin.com/in/ethancamacho 

Choezing is from Southeast Portland, Oregon, and holds a Bachelor of Science in Product Design from Stanford University, where the focus was on health technology and user experience. Her design approach spans digital and physical mediums, rooted in human-centered principles and a vision of using products as tools for storytelling and connection. She is especially interested in how sports products can share athletes’ stories in ways that resonate with communities and create inclusive products that celebrate the human side of sports and wellness.  

When she is not working in the studio, she enjoys wandering and wondering, often on road trips, reading a book, playing basketball, or shooting film.  

www.choezing.com  

www.linkedin.com/in/tenzing-choezing  

Leveraging his passion for sports and the outdoors, Will creates innovative, user-centered products that push the boundaries of performance and design. As a former All-American lacrosse player, a surfer, snowboarder, diver, and recent climber, he pairs firsthand athletic experience with design expertise to better understand the needs of those pushing their limits. With a degree in Product Design from the University of Oregon, he brings a versatile skill set spanning material development, graphic design, 3D modeling, photography, sewing, and metal work. 

Looking ahead, Will is focused on designing gear and apparel for extreme sports where durability, innovation, and performance are critical. His strengths in ideation, competitiveness, and strategy drive him to develop solutions athletes can trust at the highest level. He envisions a future where he can contribute bold, high-performance solutions that elevate both athletes and the sports they love. 

https://studio-curtis.com/

Growing up on a farm in Hillsboro, Oregon, Elliot developed a hands-on approach to problem-solving and a passion for making things. This led him to attend Oregon State University, where he earned a Mechanical Engineering degree with a focus in product design and manufacturing. During his time there, he developed skills in woodworking, 3D modeling, sketching, and machining operations. In addition, he gained valuable leadership experience acting as the President of the OSU Club Baseball team. 

Elliot played basketball, baseball, and soccer growing up and is now an avid golfer. His passion for sports, combined with his technical expertise, has fueled his interest in designing innovative products that enhance athletic performance. He is particularly drawn to creating equipment and footwear that balance functionality, usability, and creativity. Through the Sports Product Design program, Elliot aims to merge his engineering background with design thinking to pursue a career developing next-generation sports products. 

www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-hildner 

Born and raised in Eastern Idaho, Steven spent his childhood in the wilderness hunting, fishing, and mountain biking. He also honed a passion for woodworking at an early age, a skill that continues to elevate his approach to designing and building. Studying botany and ecology at the University of Montana in Missoula, he went on to work for a decade as a botanist and biologist. During that time, Steven tested a wide range of commercially available outdoor products and equipment, often obsessing over ways to improve them and dreaming up new products to enhance the outdoor experience. He discovered a passion for sewing and apparel design during the COVID lockdown and naturally moved into developing and testing products for use in field work, experimenting with waterproofing techniques, gear efficiency, and lightweight material use.  

Combining a self-taught approach to design with a dedication to social and environmental responsibility, he plans to help make high-quality and sustainable outdoor products accessible to a wider audience. In the SPD program, Steven plans to focus on innovative apparel design and material development – finding new ways to make performance gear from natural fibers and unconventional materials. He hopes to be a catalyst for rapid change in the outdoor products world, helping to evolve sustainable design and production.   

https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-schorzman-63aa4b34a/ 

Kate has a degree in Industrial Design from the University of Washington and returned in 2024 to teach in the ID program. She has worked as an industrial designer at Baden Sports, Axe Bat, and Rad Power Bikes. She is known for prioritizing the athlete’s experience in her work. This holds true both in her professional work designing baseball, softball, and cycling equipment and in her pursuits developing outdoor gear and apparel. She is dedicated to iterative prototyping and user testing to get the right result.  

As an avid lover of mountaineering, backpacking, skiing and outdoor sports, she has seen the transformative power of people’s relationship with nature, capability, and self-trust as they push themselves out of their comfort zone. She seeks to make products that marry her professional and personal experience by empowering more beginners, making inclusive fit decisions, and directing her research towards underrepresented communities.  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-shreffler-1b1292101/

Ty is a multidisciplinary designer who draws on behavioral theory and multimedia storytelling to design sports products that promote exercise, competition, and community. He grew up in Mesa, Arizona, drawing custom Nike shoes for all his friends on their birthdays. Ty loved playing sports with his dad (racquetball), his friends (volleyball), and his high school teams (tennis and golf). Now he is also a triathlete, open water swimmer, SCUBA Divemaster, hiker, and pickleballer (aren’t we all at this point?). He grew up a huge fan of ASU, the Phoenix Suns, and the Arizona Diamondbacks. He didn’t just love the teams; he also loved fan culture and was interested in how these communities form.  

Ty has a PhD in economics, where he has tested theories of behavioral change in large-scale field experiments in developing countries. He is an environmental economist concerned with sustainability and local governance, and worked as an expert in A-B testing for the World Bank. He investigated the attention-action gap for low-income farmers and entrepreneurs, and how to overcome that gap with good design. Similar problems exist in the market for sports products. For example, how can we help people who want to exercise follow through on that intent? As Ty returns to his interest in sports product design, he is excited to combine his background in behavior change and sustainability with designing products that facilitate performance, build community, and improve health and wellness.  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ty-turley-548a0b1/  

Born in Snohomish, Washington, and shaped by the rugged landscapes of Western Colorado, Maddy has always approached sports gear with curiosity and creativity, questioning, testing, and reimagining how it can perform. As an ultra-runner, cyclist, skier, and mountaineer, she knows firsthand what it means to live in the elements and rely on equipment. These experiences, combined with her love of learning, fuel her passion to build a career in the outdoor industry. 

Maddy holds a degree in Mathematics with a minor in Outdoor Recreation Industry Studies, a combination that allows her to merge analytical precision with hands-on insight. Her problem-solving skills, paired with her outdoor pursuits provide an authentic understanding of what athletes truly need. This blend of logic, curiosity, and lived experience drives her to design outdoor products that not only will perform in the harshest conditions but also elevate the overall experience for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts alike. 

www.linkedin.com/in/maddy-watkins-aa7789334 

Yujiang was born in Shanghai, China, and grew up in an academic family that emphasized education. Excelling in his studies from an early age, he was also frequently challenged by health issues during childhood. Encouraged by his parents to strengthen his body, he explored various sports including table tennis, badminton, football, and basketball, gradually cultivating a deep passion for athletics. This passion crystallized in middle school with basketball, where he was first captivated by sneaker culture—an interest that would profoundly shape his future. 

By high school, despite maintaining strong academic performance in subjects like physics and mathematics, Zou began to feel disillusioned with a purely technical career path. Driven by a desire to turn his passion into a profession, he set his sights on becoming a sneaker designer and chose industrial design as his undergraduate major. He pursued his studies at Donghua University, renowned in China for its fashion programs. During his time there, he proactively expanded his expertise by frequently attending fashion and product design courses. Currently, Zou is furthering his education as a graduate student in the Sports Product Design program at the University of Oregon, dedicated to mastering the craft at the intersection of sport, design, and culture.