VICIS
 | |
| Industry | Sport industry |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington, United States |
Key people | Dave Marver (CEO) |
| Products | Sports equipment |
| Website |
www |
VICIS is an American sports equipment company that is engineering a new American football helmet, the ZERO1,[1] designed to be safer for athletes.[2] The helmet is scheduled for release in 2016.[3]
Technology
The VICIS ZERO1 is designed to reduce the impact forces incurred during contact sports. It is engineered to reduce the linear and rotational acceleration football players experience as the result of impact. ZERO1 employs several principles in physics, starting with Newton's second law.
Founders
- Samuel Browd, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, is a neurosurgeon and director of Seattle Children’s sports concussion program. He serves as an unaffiliated neurologic consultant to the NFL and an independent neurologic consultant to the Seattle Seahawks.
- Per Reinhall, PhD, Chief Technology Officer, is professor and chair of mechanical engineering at University of Washington. Earned his masters and PhD from the California Institute of Technology with expertise in impact dynamics and materials.
- Jonathan Posner, PhD, is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at University of Washington. He earned his PhD from the University of California at Irvine and was the original Chief Scientific Officer of VICIS.[4]
- Dave Marver, Chief Executive Officer, is an entrepreneur and former public company CEO. He held several VP positions with Medtronic over a 14-year career and later served as CEO of Cardiac Science, focusing on safety-related technologies. Dave has a BA from Duke University and an MBA from UCLA.
Background and backers
VICIS is the commercialization partner of the University of Washington, which was named a winner of Head Health Challenge II ,[5] a collaboration between the NFL, GE and Under Armour, in 2014 and 2015. The Head Health Challenge is a search for solutions that prevent, measure and detect brain injury. The University of Washington and the Coulter Foundation have provided grant funding. In addition, VICIS has received an investment from the W-Fund,[6] a Seattle-based venture capital fund, and Seattle-based Alliance of Angels.[7] Other company investors include neurosurgeons, spine surgeons, and current and former NFL players and coaches. The industrial design of ZERO1 is by Seattle-based design firm Artefact.[8]
References
- ↑ "ZERO1". January 4, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ↑ "This Football Helmet Crumples—and That's Good". Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ↑ Futterman, Matthew (December 24, 2015). "Rethinking the Next-Generation Helmet". Retrieved August 10, 2016 – via Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ Taylor Soper (June 16, 2015). "VICIS raises 1.6m; geekwire.com". geekwire.com.
- ↑ Castillo, Michelle (December 4, 2015). "NFL's answer to concussions: Sports science". Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ↑ SevenSpark, Chris Mavricos,. "Home - W Fund". Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ↑ "Alliance of Angels". Retrieved August 10, 2016.
- ↑ "VICIS ZERO1: Protect the Athlete, Elevate the Game - Artefact". Retrieved August 10, 2016.