A Montreal-based consortium has been selected by the NFL as one of the league’s three final grant recipients as part of its NFL Helmet Challenge.
Kollide, a group composed of four Montreal companies working together in collaboration with École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), was the lone Canadian organization among 100 applicants selected by the NFL in 2020 and given a grant to develop a prototype. One year later, the Kollide helmet has been recognized as one of three awardees by the league.
According to Kollide’s press release on Monday, the helmet designed by the Canadian group — which previously had no experience manufacturing football helmets — “outperformed helmets currently used in the NFL, as well as other commercially available helmets.”
Via the press release:
“Kollide’s helmet technology differentiates itself from the competition by the composition of its complex and organic 3D printed mesh structure, optimized to absorb and redirect impact energy, thereby reducing the head’s linear and rotational accelerations during an impact. Its performances surpassed those of helmets currently used by NFL players.”
Launched in 2019, the NFL’s Helmet Challenge put out a call to companies and innovators to further develop helmet technology in an effort to better protect athletes from head injuries.
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