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Autodesk and U.S. Paralympian, CEO & founder of BioDapt, Mike Schultz, announce partnership to advance next-generation prosthetics
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Following his final competition in Cortina next month, three-time U.S. Paralympic medalist, designer and maker,
About this update from Autodesk, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Following his final competition in Cortina next month, three-time U.S. Paralympic medalist, designer and maker, and CEO & founder of BioDapt, Mike Schultz, is retiring from competitive para snowboarding. Today, Autodesk is announcing a partnership with BioDapt to advance the next generation of high-performance prosthetics for para athletes preparing to compete in Los Angeles in 2028 and beyond.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nThe partnership will build on months of technical collaboration between Autodesk and Schultz in Fusion — Autodesk's AI-powered industry cloud for manufacturing — to redesign and refine key components of his competitive prosthetic systems. Now, as Schultz transitions fully into his role as founder and CEO of BioDapt, the collaboration will help BioDapt scale toward broader innovation across winter and summer para sports.The implications extend well beyond elite competition. According to the World Health Organization, more than 2.5 billion people worldwide require one or more assistive products, yet access can be as low as 3% in some countries. While BioDapt's focus begins in high-performance sport, the underlying challenge is fundamentally a design and manufacturing one: how to build complex, high-performing products that are durable, repeatable, and scalable for more people.The same advances in design efficiency, manufacturability, and data continuity that support para athletes on a start line are the same capabilities Autodesk helps manufacturers apply across industries — from medical devices to advanced equipment powering industrial machinery, building product fabrication, and next-generation consumer products — to improve reliability, reduce cost, and expand access at scale.From athlete to full-time makerSchultz's career has always balanced two identities: super athlete and maker. After losing his leg in a 2008 snowmobile accident, he designed and built his own prosthetic leg capable of withstanding competitive snowboarding. In 2010, he founded BioDapt, which today supports approximately 90% of lower-limb athletes globally competing in Para Snowboard World Cup events and at other international competitions — with about 25 athletes expected to compete in Cortina wearing equipment Schultz developed.As technology advances, the opportunity to further optimize prosthetic equ...