BYU Students’ Device Crafts Foot Orthotics in 30 Minutes

Undergraduate engineering students at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, have developed a method to create custom foot orthotics in about 30 minutes, cutting turnaround time from weeks to minutes, according to the school.

The group, Sole Orthotic Solutions, designed the portable workstation for a yearlong university assignment that was sponsored by entrepreneur Brent Johnson, who holds a master's degree in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.

The group of students, Eric Radford, Keith Stolworthy, Tyson Triplett, Caleb Waugh, and Jonathan Woahn, advanced a concept that was developed by Johnson and another set of BYU students during the 2006-07 school year, according the Salt Lake Tribune.

Johnson and his wife, Leslie, conceived the project out of frustration with the length of time it took to get custom shoe inserts made for his son, who has cerebral palsy. Currently, it takes about two weeks to make a custom foot orthotic. With Soul Orthotic Solutions' device, the orthotics can be made on the spot.

"If you're in pain you don't want to have to wait any longer than you have to," Stolworthy told Provo's Daily Herald.