A new global training programme is aiming to close one of the biggest gaps between clinical foot assessment and footwear development: how to turn what clinicians know about the human foot into an actual product that performs better.
The FAAI Footwear Innovation Lab, led by podiatrist and FAAI founder Diana Palin, will run from 24 August to 15 November 2026 as a small, intensive 12-week programme for clinicians, researchers, designers, engineers and footwear professionals.
At the centre of the programme is a simple pathway:
Clinical Foot → Data → Design → Prototype → Test → Iterate
Rather than teaching footwear development as a purely design-led process, the Lab is built around translating clinical and biomechanical findings into measurable footwear specifications.
For podiatrists, orthotists, pedorthists and other professionals working across foot health, this is particularly relevant because many clinicians understand the foot extremely well but have far less exposure to how that knowledge is converted into the geometry, materials and structure of an actual shoe.
From clinical findings to design decisions
According to Palin, the programme will ask participants to think critically about which clinical and biomechanical findings actually matter when developing footwear.
That includes questions such as:
- Which findings from a clinical examination should influence the product?
- How should 3D foot scans be interpreted?
- What information from plantar pressure testing is meaningful?
- How can gait analysis be converted into design requirements?
- Which specifications should alter the fit, volume or structure of the shoe?
From there, the programme will move into footwear design variables including heel pitch, arch geometry, stiffness, flexibility, shank design, midsole construction, upper design and outsole properties.
The aim is to make the relationship between foot function and footwear construction much more explicit.
For clinicians, this can help move the conversation beyond recommending “supportive footwear” and towards understanding precisely what type of support, geometry or material response may be required.
Testing the product back on the human foot
One of the strongest features of the Lab is that it does not stop at prototype development.
Participants will also be expected to put the product back onto the human foot and assess whether it actually achieved what the design intended.
That closes an important loop.
Footwear design can easily become disconnected from the user once it moves into engineering and manufacturing.
A shoe may look correct in CAD or meet production specifications yet still fail when worn because of fit, pressure, comfort, instability or an unexpected biomechanical response.
The Lab will therefore emphasise testing and iteration rather than treating the first prototype as the end point.
For CPOs and podiatrists, that approach will be familiar from orthotic practice, where modification and reassessment are often essential parts of the process.
Bringing disciplines into the same room
Palin says one of the most valuable aspects of the programme will be access to specialists across multiple disciplines.
The Lab will bring together people working in:
- Clinical practice
- Podiatry
- Biomechanics
- Research
- Footwear design
- Engineering
- Materials
- 3D printing
- Manufacturing
- Product testing
Participants will also hear from specialists who have experience helping global footwear brands translate human data into commercial products.
That multidisciplinary structure is important.
The footwear industry, podiatry, orthotics and biomechanics often operate close to one another without fully sharing the same language.
A clinician may identify abnormal loading.
A biomechanist may quantify it.
A designer then has to translate it into geometry.
An engineer must decide whether the product can actually be manufactured.
The Lab is designed to connect those stages.
Three participation pathways
FAAI is offering three routes into the programme.
Lab Access — US$1,250
This tier is focused on learning the complete development pathway. Participants receive the full 12-week programme, a three-hour live Lab each week, expert masterclasses, real cases, frameworks and supporting resources.
Lab — US$4,500
This level is designed for participants who already have a footwear innovation, research question or clinical problem they want to develop.
It includes the core programme plus mentoring through design, prototype development and testing.
Lab+ — US$9,500
The highest tier is intended for participants seeking to move an idea further towards practical implementation or commercialisation.
It includes direct access to Palin and the FAAI team, individual strategy work, access to the FAAI Innovation Lab, expert introductions, prototype and testing support and guidance around commercialisation.
Who is the programme for?
The programme is deliberately broad.
FAAI is inviting applications from:
- Podiatrists
- Physiotherapists
- Orthotists
- Pedorthists
- Biomechanists
- Researchers
- Academics
- Students
- Footwear designers
- Engineers
- Sports scientists
- 3D-printing specialists
- Manufacturers
- Footwear industry professionals
That mix reflects Palin’s argument that the next major footwear innovation is unlikely to emerge from a single discipline.
For the P&O sector, orthotists and pedorthists may be particularly well positioned to contribute because they already work at the interface between clinical assessment, biomechanics, materials and fabrication.
Relevance to the IMEA region
The programme could have strong relevance across India, the Middle East and Africa, where foot-health needs are growing alongside diabetes, sports participation and an expanding interest in custom footwear and digital orthotics.
Across the region, clinicians increasingly have access to technologies such as:
- 3D foot scanners
- Plantar pressure platforms
- Gait-analysis systems
- CAD/CAM software
- CNC milling
- 3D-printed orthoses
But having more data does not automatically mean better footwear.
The challenge is knowing which measurements matter and how they should influence product design.
A 3D scan can describe shape.
A pressure map can identify high-load areas.
Gait analysis can show movement patterns.
But someone still has to convert those observations into a decision about fit, stiffness, cushioning, volume, outsole design or structural support.
That translation is exactly where the FAAI programme is positioning itself.
Beyond custom orthoses
For many CPOs, footwear is still seen mainly as the product surrounding an orthosis.
The Footwear Innovation Lab takes a broader view.
The shoe itself can become part of the intervention.
Changes in heel geometry, rocker profiles, midsole stiffness, outsole construction, internal volume and upper materials can all influence how a patient moves and how forces are distributed.
For people with diabetes, neuropathy, rheumatological conditions, sports injuries or complex foot deformity, these variables can be clinically significant.
The same applies in paediatrics, post-surgical rehabilitation and sports performance.
That creates a larger potential role for clinicians in footwear development.
An opportunity for CPOs to influence products earlier
One of the recurring challenges in medical footwear is that clinicians may only encounter a product after it has already been designed and manufactured.
By that stage, the opportunity to influence fundamental aspects of geometry or materials is limited.
A programme that teaches clinicians how to communicate in product-development terms could give them a stronger role much earlier in the process.
Instead of saying that a shoe needs “more support”, a clinician could potentially define the exact problem and communicate how fit, stiffness, geometry or material response should change.
That would make collaboration with designers and manufacturers much more effective.
Building a common language between clinic and industry
Perhaps the most important contribution of the FAAI Footwear Innovation Lab is the attempt to build a shared language between healthcare and product development.
Clinicians understand pathology and biomechanics.
Designers understand form and usability.
Engineers understand materials and manufacturing.
Manufacturers understand scale and commercial constraints.
The challenge is bringing those perspectives together around the same human foot.
The 12-week programme is designed around exactly that process.
It will run from 24 August to 15 November 2026, with three hours of live teaching each week plus project work, and FAAI says there will be only one intake per year.
For CPOs, podiatrists and pedorthists across IMEA who increasingly find themselves working with digital foot data and custom footwear, the programme may provide a useful bridge between understanding the clinical problem and knowing how to turn that understanding into a product.
Because better footwear does not begin with the shoe.
It begins with understanding the foot — and then knowing what to do with the data.
- FAAI Footwear Innovation Lab
- FAAI
- British Society of Podiatric Biomechanics
- International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics
- IMEA CPO