Case Western Reserve University senior wide receiver Sean Lapcevic (left) and senior quarterback Billy Beecher wear new football uniforms designed by Nike.

(Case Western Reserve University)

The patch honoring Frank Rudy will be on all CWRU athletic uniforms.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The aerospace engineer who invented the Nike Air Sole technology will be honored on new athletic uniforms and footwear at his alma mater – Case Western Reserve University.

Nike has designed coordinated uniforms and footwear for the 500 athletes on 19 varsity teams that include a specially designed 3-D emblem with the initials, "MFR," for Marion Franklin Rudy.

Frank Rudy's favorite equation is also featured on the inside back collar.

Rudy, a 1950 graduate of the former Case Institute of Technology, invented Nike's famed Air Sole shoe cushioning technology, first featured in the 1978 Nike Tailwind shoe.

Rudy was one of Nike's first partners and Nike Air became one of the most recognizable and defining performance technologies of its time, the university said.

"Frank Rudy holds a special place in Nike history," Todd Van Horne, Nike vice president and creative director for Nike Football, said in a university release. "His relentless creativity and focus on solving problems was instrumental in pushing the limits of innovation and developing tools aimed to help athletes succeed."

Kim McMahon, Rudy's daughter, became aware last year of CWRU's need for coordinated uniforms.

"The opportunity arose when we were in touch with fabulous, talented people at Nike whom I knew could make this happen," she said in the release. She thanked the school for honoring her father.

The uniform emblem showcases Rudy's initials as a 3D design with special texture and shine to resemble inflated Air-Sole units, and the orbiting planets pay tribute to his career as an aerospace engineer. The emblem's background is comprised of stars, where he dreamed of things that made him such an inspired inventor.

Rudy's favorite equation, L=MT², is also featured on the inside back collar of uniforms, the university said. Rudy's formula makes a complex subject simple: Life equals Mass times Time squared. It signifies that life is an energy management system.

CWRU did not release the cost of the new uniforms. They debuted Aug. 29 at volleyball and soccer matches and will be worn by football players at their home game Saturday.

A Northeast Ohio native, Rudy majored in mechanical and aeronautical engineering. During his career in aerospace, Rudy worked on the Saturn and Apollo rocket engines and invented the ultra-high precision micro-ball spherical bearing used by the military. During his lifetime, Rudy held more than 250 patents. He died in 2009.

Rudy and his wife established the M. Franklin Rudy and Margaret Domiter Rudy Professorship of Biomedical Engineering at CWRU. The family also supported cancer research at the Cleveland Clinic and created a scholarship program for graduates of Rudy's alma mater, Fairview Park High School.