“Only by working together can we achieve the engineering research breakthroughs and innovations that are essential for addressing the profound challenges facing the United States and world today. I’m excited about the future that ERVA will help create, and grateful to be a part of this team.”
Alison Sheets-Singer leads a biomechanics exploration team in the Nike Sport Research Lab. The broad goal of the Sport Research Lab is to make athletes measurably better, and her team focuses on how Nike can create products and services that amplify and augment human performance for athletes of all abilities. Her largest contributions to the sports biomechanics field are realized through Nike’s product line, and she has received a Visionary Award from the Women of Nike for her leadership and teamwork.
Sheets-Singer is also committed to increasing interest in science, technology, engineering, and math in the United States and to mentoring the next generation of STEM leaders. She served two years as a co-chair of the inaugural cohort of the New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine program sponsored by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in partnership with the National Academies. The New Voices initiative was designed to bring diverse perspectives from early-career U.S. leaders to important dialogues around how science, engineering, and medicine are shaping the global future.
Prior to joining Nike, Sheets-Singer was an assistant professor at The Ohio State University in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, her doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Davis, and was a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University. In these roles, Sheets-Signer used experimental approaches and computer simulation, modeling, and optimization to research topics including optimal gymnastics performance, landing dynamics, tennis serve technique, dynamics of throwing with a lacrosse stick, and quantifying human and animal motion using markerless tracking techniques. Her work was recognized by the International Society of Biomechanics, Technical Group on Computer Simulation with the Andrzej Komor New Investigator Award. Additionally, Sheets-Singer was an invited speaker at the 2012 Japan America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium sponsored by the National Academy of Engineering.