SUPERELASTICITY
It gives.
Load it and it yields — smoothly, completely. Let go and it springs back to form. Cushioning and rebound from the same structure.
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WHAT IS NITI?
Short for Nitinol, a nickel-titanium shape memory alloy first developed by the US Navy. It can flex up to about 8% and spring fully back — the same family of material trusted in heart stents, orthodontic wires and NASA’s superelastic tire. Nitiwear engineers the shoe around it.
SHAPE MEMORY
It remembers.
Shaped once, it keeps finding its way back. Fit and feel that stay true, mile after mile — long after ordinary cushioning goes flat.
SHAPE MEMORY 101
Materials that move.
A quick primer.
A short look at shape memory alloys woven into textiles: one of the many ways this family of materials can move, flex and recover.
Watch on YouTube ↗Video: MIT, via YouTube. Shown for general background only; not Nitiwear technology, and no affiliation is implied.
FOR ENGINEERS
A spring with a plateau.
And a memory.
Foam compresses. Carbon bends. A superelastic structure does something neither can: it yields along a flat stress plateau, then returns along its own path — all the way home.
RECOVERABLE STRAINUp to ~8%Far beyond conventional metals — then full return.
OPERATING RANGEAll-weatherSuperelastic at room and outdoor temperatures. No power, no heat input.
TUNABILITYBy designFirmness, rebound and damping are set through engineering, not left to the foam.
FORM FACTORSWire to 3DFilament, strip, sheet and mesh — shape-set into complex geometries.
EARLY LAB RESULTS
The numbers
back the feeling.
0%
Energy return, best sample
Of the energy you put in, returned. Today’s super-shoe foams average about 71%; everyday trainers about 52%.
0%
Lower peak force
Less impact at landing than the exact same foam without NiTi — more rebound and a softer hit, in one.
2–3×DESIGN TARGET
Longer-lasting ride
Engineered to hold its bounce two to three times longer than a conventional foam midsole. Lifecycle testing comes next.
ENERGY RETURN · HOW IT COMPARES
Same drop-test standard (ASTM F1976). Higher is springier.
Everyday trainerEVA FOAM · SHOE AVG.
0%
Today’s super shoePEBA FOAM · SHOE AVG.
0%
Super foam, on its ownPEBA SAMPLE · SAME LAB
0%
Super foam + NiTiPEBA + NITI SAMPLE · SAME LAB
0%
PEAK FORCE · VS. SAME FOAM ALONE
TPU + NiTi−34%
PEBA + NiTi−27%
EVA + NiTi−24%
Every foam we paired with NiTi landed softer — and the TPU sample still returned 87%.
NiTi and “same lab” figures: independent Heeluxe impact testing based on ASTM F1976 (2025), company-reported component samples; reductions are versus the same foam without NiTi. Shoe averages: RunRepeat full-shoe lab tests on the same ASTM F1976 standard (sample of popular EVA and PEBA models, heel). Component samples typically read higher than finished shoes, so the like-for-like comparison is the same foam with and without NiTi. Full-shoe and athlete benefits remain to be validated.
APPLICATIONS
One idea.
Many ways to move.
Tuned part by part, from the midsole to the collar. Choose an application.
01 / FOOTWEAR · FIRST FOCUS
Adaptive Propulsion
Superelastic elements fused with TPU, PEBA or CMEVA foam — a spring and a shock absorber working as one. Where a carbon plate stays rigid, this moves with every pace.
THE QUESTIONS WE’RE ASKING
Footwear’s next decade
starts with better questions.
HOW WE ENGINEER
From alloy
to athlete.
The value isn’t in any single step. It’s in how material, structure and product decisions work together — and in the prototypes and data that connect them.
01Select & shape-setAlloy behavior chosen for the job, then set into the geometry the shoe needs.
02Generate & simulateAI-assisted design generates and simulates candidate geometries, keeping strain where the structure performs and lasts. The best are 3D-printed for testing.
03IntegrateStructures paired with PEBA, TPU and CMEVA foams, then built into working prototypes.
04ValidateIndependent impact testing today; lifecycle, full-shoe and athlete testing next.
