Partners & Plugs Ep. 6 w/ Stu Forstrom

Описание: Super G: Partners & Plugs | Episode 6 — Featuring Stu Forstrom
Hosted by: Jonathan Epstein, Founder of Supergl0rious

🎙️ Guest: Stu Forstrom | Former Nike Engineer & General Manager, Asian Operations

In Episode 6 of Partners & Plugs, we sit down with Stu Forstrom — a 35-year Nike veteran whose work helped shape the foundation of modern performance footwear.

Stu started in the late 1970s and early 1980s at Nike’s R&D facility in Exeter, New Hampshire, working as a tooling foreman in the early CAD/CAM days. He was part of the era when Nike Air was still being developed in secret across New England facilities in Exeter and Saco, Maine. While designers often received the spotlight, Stu was on the manufacturing and engineering side — building the machinery that made the Air units possible.

Over the course of his career, Stu earned more than 20 patents, worked on the machinery behind Nike Air production, helped transition the company away from SF6 gas during the global elimination program, and eventually led Asian Operations as General Manager. His timeline covers decades of innovation, expansion, and behind-the-scenes problem solving.

This is the first time Stu has ever sat for a recorded interview.

We visited his home in Massachusetts, where his basement is filled with molds, prototypes, internal Nike publications, and artifacts from projects that defined entire eras — including early Air systems, Air Max models, and manufacturing breakthroughs that most people have never heard about.

Because his story spans decades, this episode is broken up into multiple segments

We talk about:
• The early, secretive R&D culture in New England
• How Nike Air units were actually made
• The truth behind PSI markings and early Air technology
• Re-machining molds overnight during the SF6 elimination program
• What it was like helping scale manufacturing in Asia
• The difference between design credit and engineering reality
• Recovering original Air tooling from dumpsters
• Why trade skills and manufacturing knowledge still matter

If you care about sneaker history, performance innovation, or the foundation of Nike’s Air technology, this episode is essential viewing.

🎥: Videography by Sojourner Media
🎬: Directed by HSR Marketing



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