VICIS
 | |
| Industry | Sport industry |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington, United States |
Key people | Dave Marver (CEO) |
| Products | Sports equipment |
| Website |
www |
VICIS is engineering a new American football helmet, ZERO1, designed to be safer for athletes.[1] The helmet is scheduled for release in 2016.[2]
Technology
The VICIS ZERO1 is being designed to mitigate the forces incurred during impacts typical of 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—A neurosurgeon and director of Seattle Children’s sports concussion program. Serves as an unaffiliated neurologic consultant to the NFL and an independent neurologic consultant to the Seattle Seahawks.
Per Reinhall, PhD, Chief Technology Officer—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.
Dave Marver, Chief Executive Officer—An entrepreneur and former public company CEO. 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 & Backers
VICIS is the commercialization partner of the University of Washington, which was named a winner of Head Health Challenge II ,[3] 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, a Seattle-based venture capital fund, and Seattle-based Alliance of Angels. 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.[4]