“The genesis of Xenith was basically: there’s gotta be a better way.”
Athletes who play American Football regularly face high-impact tackles, the force of which can
feel like being hit by a baby whale. As more research is being done into the potential effects of
repeated head trauma on an athlete’s health, there is a renewed focus on safety measures in
the sport being driven from the top down by the NFL.
Xenith was founded in 2006 by Vin Ferrara, who had played college football as a quarterback
and was interested in creating a new game-changing type of helmet. Xenith’s unique approach
is to use adaptive technology which allows the helmet to move independently to the athlete’s
head on impact, protecting them from the majority of the force. Now, Xenith’s helmets are used
across the globe and the company makes various different types of protective equipment
including helmets, shoulder pads and core guards from their headquarters in Detroit, Michigan.
In this episode Chief Engineer Ron Jadischke takes us around their HQ to demonstrate some of
the impact testing performed on their new helmets and explain the technology “under the hood”
of certain models.
We also hear from Brian Thompson, who head’s up PTC’s CAD division, to talk about how
PTC’s CREO technology can help Xenith find new ways to improve athlete safety.
