evoSHIELD Demo

Becky Heckman (one of our ASM master teachers) showed me her son's new evoSHIELD wrist guard this morning. He already had one but had just gotten a new one, and she made him wait to fit it until I could see the thing fresh out of its package. The wrist guard (you can see specifically that product in the video below) is a neoprene sleeve and a plastic insert. The insert is initially sealed in a thick, assumedly air-tight foil package. When the package is opened, the insert is flexible like a gel. The insert is then placed in the sleeve and worn. As air reacts with the insert, the insert turns into a rock-hard plastic over the next twenty or so minutes in an exothermic process. Because the flexible insert is worn on the player's wrist as it hardens, the protection is almost perfectly fitted to the player's wrist forever, giving the player good - according to data I found online - protection against impact.

The company also offers similar products for hockey, football, baseball, softball, lacrosse, and even shooting pads. I'm fascinated by this and want to know way more science than what their website provides.

Anybody have any ideas on the science here?





Kinda cool that it's a university project gone right, too.