Over the last forty years, ICON Health & Fitness has been a global leader in the fitness and activity space, producing innovative products to get people moving. Students in Utah State University’s Outdoor Product Design & Development program had the chance to tour ICON’s global headquarters in Logan, Utah, and learn how the company brings new products to market.

Students learned about ICON’s history and the various brands the company owns including NordicTrack, Freemotion, Proform, Lotus and iFit.

Students shadowed teams from the company to learn about the market strategy of the business, brands and the unique challenges of designing apparel versus fitness equipment.

ICON is uniquely positioned to design and develop innovative product quickly due to their impressive onsite prototyping facilities. Students were given a tour of their fabrication shop where industrial designers can create a design and full prototype in less than a day. On a small scale, OPDD students learn similar concepts on campus where they create their design concepts on paper and digitally - then translate the designs into physical prototypes, utilizing program labs on campus.

Throughout their time in the program, students have unique opportunities to work with experts in the industry to better understand career opportunities and the future impact that they will have to create better products.

Industry collaborations made possible through the Manufacturing and Outdoor Products Support Hub, a partnership between Utah Manufacturing Extension Service and Outdoor Product Design & Development.