Passion never rests
One of the realities of attending neurosurgeon 鈥檚 job as the medical director of the is telling 14-year-olds that their futures in football are over.
That鈥檚 the truth behind sports-related traumatic brain injury, after all, which touches millions of kids and adults each year and is the driving force behind , the research-propelled 黑料吃瓜网 startup that鈥檚 bringing together faculty and students to create a concussion-curbing helmet that aims to revolutionize the game of football.
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The research team
With the help of , 黑料吃瓜网 faculty Samuel Browd, Jonathan Posner and Per Reinhall co-founded along with Dave Marver to commercialize the revolutionary helmet technology and turn 黑料吃瓜网 research and innovation into impact. But none of that would have been possible without the ongoing support of 黑料吃瓜网 faculty and students, whose research in engineering and medicine predates VICIS.
- Samuel Browd, associate professor of neurological surgery, attending neurosurgeon, medical director of the Seattle Children鈥檚 Sports Concussion Program and chief medical officer of VICIS
- Jonathan Posner, associate professor of mechanical engineering and chief science officer of VICIS
- Per Reinhall, professor and department chair of mechanical engineering and chief technology officer of VICIS
- Dave Marver, chief executive officer of VICIS
- Tim Dardis, Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering and mechanical engineer at VICIS
- Mike Czerski, mechanical engineer at VICIS
- Ryan Smith, senior in mechanical engineering
- Kayla Fukuda, senior in mechanical engineering
- Andre Stone, senior in mechanical engineering
The 黑料吃瓜网 has become the epicenter for concussion prevention advocacy, and the first law to protect youth sports concussion safety came out of Washington state in 2009 after 13-year-old Zackery Lystedt was put back on the field just 15 minutes after suffering a concussion. It was a devastating decision that ultimately landed Zack on life support and a years-long recovery process to relearn basic skills.
Unfortunately, Zack鈥檚 story isn鈥檛 all that unique. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says a whopping 1.6 million to 3.8 million sports-related concussions occur annually in the U.S., and those numbers are conservative 鈥� as many as 50 percent of concussions go unreported. For the 黑料吃瓜网 helmet research team, stories like Zack鈥檚 aren鈥檛 just a serious public health issue facing today鈥檚 society; they鈥檙e the reason VICIS 鈥� which means 鈥渃hange鈥� in Latin 鈥� was formed: to turn 黑料吃瓜网 research and innovation into impact.
鈥淗elmet technology hasn鈥檛 evolved much at all in 40 or 50 years,鈥� says McMinn Endowed Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering , who works on the project alongside Professor and Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering . 鈥淓ngineering and medicine are working together to come up with a practical solution.鈥�
That solution is a much-needed update on the current helmet using the brains of faculty and students right here on campus, and if the support from the NFL, Under Armour and GE in the form of a $500,000 grant as a winner of the second annual is any indication, the team is on the right track.
The 黑料吃瓜网 has the opportunity to earn an additional $1 million in research funding from the Head Health Challenge this year, but the bulk of the support continues to come from its own backyard. VICIS鈥� offices are housed at CoMotion鈥檚 . Its prototypes and soft goods are built and tested in collaboration with 黑料吃瓜网 mechanical engineering faculty and students.
And that鈥檚 the beauty of being at the 黑料吃瓜网, says Dr. Samuel Browd. 鈥淵ou can have these types of collaborations where people with very deep and specific types of expertise can come together to find a solution that鈥檚 going to benefit the kids and adults who play contact sports.鈥�
VICIS鈥� 12th man
The group has a strong working relationship with the Seahawks 鈥� Dr. Samuel Browd covers concussion management on the sidelines as an unaffiliated neurologic consultant, and the rest of the VICIS team has access to the people who work with helmets on a daily basis: the equipment managers.
鈥淓very engineering design project starts with the users or stakeholders,鈥� says professor Jonathan Posner. 鈥淲hat do they need? For football helmets, it鈥檚 obvious: They need something to protect their heads. But there are other aspects, too. How you clean the helmet, service it, and take it off of someone鈥檚 injured head. What it looks like. All of those aspects feed into how the helmet is designed and developed.鈥�
Helping build聽a better helmet
As far as football鈥檚 concerned, Ryan Smith is more of an observer than a player.
鈥淚 found out I was one of those people who didn鈥檛 quite like getting hit,鈥� the senior in mechanical engineering says with a laugh.
Fitting, considering his role is to conduct the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) drop test, which involves dropping a helmet-wearing humanoid head model onto an anvil from varying heights to rate the severity of the impact. To be eligible for NFL game play, each manufacturer鈥檚 helmet must pass the standards for the NOCSAE drop test.
Ryan, who took a fluid mechanics class with professor Jonathan Posner during his junior year, was one of three undergraduates Jonathan deemed 鈥渢he cream of the crop鈥� and asked to join the team.
鈥淭his is something really special to be a part of,鈥� says Ryan, who works an average of 20 hours a week doing research while juggling a full class schedule. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 your typical opportunity. I have an integral role in developing this product.鈥�