Smart Toe Pad and Ankle Band : Engineering on Pointe for Safer Ballet

Ballet pirouettes on pointe require precision, balance, and technique, and they may involve an element of engineering in the future. A new podcast from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) showcases a new smart toe pad and ankle band designed to help prevent injuries by ensuring that ballet dancers are achieving perfect alignment on their toes.

Creators Christine Fernandez, a biomedical engineering major, and Kaitlyn Kumar, a master’s student in robotics—both ballet dancers and co-inventors of PointeSense—share more about their invention on a recent episode of ASME’s TechCast, revealing how they developed the device, what makes it work, and what lies ahead.

Access the episode “Engineering Better Pointework,” via ASME’s website.