NFL’s HeadHealthTECH Challenge VI Awards Grants to Innovate Helmet Safety

As the NFL and Football Research, Inc. unveil the winners of HeadHealthTECH Challenge VI, two startups—Windpact and Auxadyne—are poised to advance helmet safety with cutting‑edge padding technologies. We explore what this means for the future of athlete protection.

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A New Chapter in Helmet Safety Innovation

On April 25, 2019, the NFL and Football Research, Inc. (FRI) announced the winners of the HeadHealthTECH Challenge VI: Northern Virginia’s Windpact and Florida‑based Auxadyne . Windpact received $148,820 to adapt its Crash Cloud® padding for the Schutt AirXP Pro Q10 helmet, while Auxadyne secured $86,688 to develop a helmet padding system using its auxetic XPF foam . Together, they represent the continued push for science‑driven advances in athlete protection.

Inside the Technologies: Crash Cloud® and XPF Foam

Windpact’s Crash Cloud® is a liner system combining restricted airflow chambers with foam to absorb and disperse energy from impacts of varying speeds and angles, potentially offering position‑specific protection within the same helmet . Auxadyne’s XPF material is the world’s only commercially available auxetic foam—one that densifies upon impact—providing enhanced energy absorption . The grants allow each company to refine, prototype and test these materials for real‑world helmet integration.