Three-time U.S. Paralympic medalist Mike Schultz has announced his retirement from competitive para snowboarding to focus on advancing high-performance prosthetic innovation through a new partnership between Autodesk and his company BioDapt.
The collaboration aims to develop next-generation prosthetics for para athletes, with the long-term goal of supporting competitors preparing for the 2028 Summer Paralympics in Los Angeles and beyond.
Schultz will retire following his final competition in Cortina d’Ampezzo, marking the end of a distinguished para snowboarding career and the beginning of a full-time focus on prosthetic technology innovation.
From Paralympic Champion to Full-Time Innovator
Schultz’s journey uniquely combines elite athletic performance with engineering creativity. After losing his leg in a 2008 snowmobile accident, he designed and built his own prosthetic leg capable of withstanding the intense demands of competitive snowboarding.
In 2010, he founded BioDapt, a company dedicated to developing advanced prosthetic systems for athletes. Today, BioDapt equipment is used by around 90% of lower-limb athletes competing in Para Snowboard World Cup events and other international competitions.
Approximately 25 athletes competing in Cortina are expected to use prosthetic systems designed by Schultz.
Autodesk Fusion Powers Prosthetic Design Innovation
The new partnership centers on Autodesk Fusion, Autodesk’s AI-powered cloud platform for design and manufacturing.
Before his final competition, Schultz worked with Autodesk research teams to migrate years of legacy prosthetic designs and CAD models into a centralized Fusion Hub, creating a single cloud-connected design repository for BioDapt’s technology.
Key improvements included:
- Redesigning the ankle frame and binding brace of Schultz’s prosthetic leg
- Increasing stiffness and structural strength for cold-weather performance
- Adding universal hole patterns so a single part fits multiple prosthetic models
- Optimizing design without increasing 3D printing time
Using Fusion’s integrated design, simulation, and manufacturing workflows, Schultz was able to iterate quickly while traveling between training sessions and competitions.
The updated prosthetic components showed no failures during training, an important achievement for equipment exposed to repeated high-impact forces.
Beyond Elite Competition
While the collaboration initially focuses on para athletes, the technology has broader implications.
According to the World Health Organization, more than 2.5 billion people worldwide require at least one assistive product. In some countries, however, access to these technologies can be as low as 3%.
Advances in digital design, manufacturing efficiency, and scalable production could help improve access to prosthetic devices beyond sports—extending to medical devices, assistive technologies, and other high-performance equipment sectors.
Preparing for the Future of Para Sports
Looking ahead, Autodesk and BioDapt plan to explore several new technological directions to improve prosthetic performance, including:
- Metal 3D printing for advanced ankle-frame structures
- Motion capture and embedded sensors to analyze force transfer and fatigue
- AI-driven design optimization tools within Autodesk Fusion
These innovations aim to help para athletes improve performance, safety, and durability of their prosthetic systems during training and competition.
A New Chapter for Mike Schultz
As Schultz transitions from competitor to full-time innovator, he hopes to apply his experience to benefit the next generation of athletes.
Autodesk executive Jeff Kinder, executive vice president of Design and Manufacturing, emphasized that the integrated digital platform allows designers and engineers to accelerate development from concept to production, creating a repeatable model for prosthetic innovation.
Schultz’s journey from athlete to inventor will also be documented in Built to Move, a three-part docuseries produced with TFA Group and released on Autodesk’s platform in March 2026.
