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The NFL has partnered with Football Research, Inc. (FRI) and Duke Biomedical Engineering (Duke BME) to announce the HealthTECH Challenge, a crowd-sourced challenge to accelerate innovations that can help make playing surfaces more consistent and safer for players.

Thank you for your interest in the HealthTECH Challenge. The application window to submit a proposal is now closed. Please check back for future updates or challenges.

Overview

The Challenge invites submissions that address several possible elements of natural and synthetic playing surface safety. These include:

• New or improved field maintenance techniques.
• Equipment that reduces variability across the surface and/or over time.
• Methodologies to prolong the viability of natural grass surfaces in NFL stadiums.
• Topical treatments for synthetic surfaces that improve traction for players.
• Equipment to protect playing surfaces during non-sporting events.
• Field usage monitoring technologies.

The Challenge is open to submissions from companies and new ventures from outside the surface industry, including representatives of academic institutions, design houses and other entities that specialize in engineering, advanced manufacturing, and material science.

HealthTECH Challenge I will provide up to $100,000 to entrants with ideas that further improve the safety and consistency of playing surfaces. The individuals or groups who submit projects that are selected for funding will have the opportunity to work with an expert support team to further develop their concept and plan for creating a finished product.

Submissions will be reviewed by Duke BME and a panel of expert judges established jointly by Duke BME and FRI. Proposals are due on February 20, 2024. For more details on the challenge, please see the Request for Applications and Official Rules.

About HealthTECH Challenges

HealthTECH Challenge I is part of the HealthTECH Challenges (previously known as the HeadHealthTECH Challenges), a series of innovation challenges intended to deepen understanding of and advance solutions in the areas of head protection, lower extremity protection, materials science, and kinematic measurement, among others.

Through project selection and review, and periodic assessment of the program, the Oversight Committee ensures the quality of projects and the sustainability of the Challenge. The HealthTECH Challenge Oversight Committee Members include:

• Dr. E. Meade Spratley, PhD, Senior Research & Lower Extremity Injury Prevention Lead at Biocore, LLC
• Dr. Kristy Arbogast, PhD, Director, Center of Injury Research and Prevention, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania
• Dr. Philipe Aldahir, PhD, Senior Research Engineer at Biocore, LLC
• Dr. Barry Myers, MD, PhD, MBA, Coulter Program Director and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University and Consultant to the NFL Players Association
• Nick Pappas, CSFM, Field Director, National Football League
• Andrew S. McNitt, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Soil Science/Turfgrass, Pennsylvania State University