Leader: Rick MacDonald, Eddy Harber

Initiatives: Top performance for top athletes and consideration for the environment

Sustainability brings out innovations. Imagine a product which is formed using laser-guided water jets, ultrasonic welding, recycled soda bottle fibers, and revolutionizes the cooling process of Olympic marathoners. Just look to Apparel Innovation Director Rick MacDonald and Senior Designer Eddy Harber's Stand-Off Singlet project.

They set out to find solutions to various problems track and field athletes encounter which hinder their performance as part of the research-based Research, Product, and Materials (RPM) group in Apparel in 1998. Nike was committed to supplying the national federations we sponsor with a warm weather long distance running top to be used at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.