From the Lab to the Gridiron: Army Technology Could Protect Athletes

News – From the Lab to the Gridiron: Army Technology Could Protect Athletes

From the Lab to the Gridiron: Army Technology Could Protect Athletes

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES

07.14.2026

Story by Imani Games 

U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center

Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD — From protecting warfighters on the battlefield to protecting athletes on the gridiron, technology developed by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) is bridging the gap between defense innovation and sports safety.

A DEVCOM CBC invention known as the Advanced Sealing-Interface Surveillance Technology (ASIST), is now demonstrating major cross-over potential for the athletic gear industry, thanks to a recent agreement facilitated by the Center’s Technology Transfer Office.

The dual-use technology, ASIST, was originally invented out of a critical military need to eliminate human error in the field with personnel protective equipment (PPE). ASIST features technology that is integrated through the zippers of the PPE, which allows warfighters to confirm that their gear has been sealed.

“Warfighters often use the buddy system to make sure all zippers and closures are aligned properly,” said Cody Kendig, a DEVCOM CBC chemical engineer. “This is prone to human error. It can be very easy to introduce a leak path if not done correctly.”

To solve this, the team of inventors at the Center including Kendig and senior engineer Dr. Anne Walker brainstormed a solution: embedding an integrated circuit directly into a garment’s closures.

“We passed an electrical current back and forth across the sealing interface of a zipper,” Kendig explained. “If the material closure is not fully fastened, the circuit remains incomplete. When it is fully zipped, the current travels all the way through and an indicator light activates, letting you know you have a secure seal.”

This unique, real-time approach to safety soon caught the attention of Hank Veeneman and Brayden Shepard during a senior-level course at the University of Dayton.

As lifelong sports enthusiasts, Veeneman and Shepard recognized a critical safety gap in modern athletic gear: helmets frequently dislodge during high-impact collisions, resulting in concussions. Their research—which included a survey of 450 coaches, athletic directors, and trainers—revealed an estimated 28 percent of helmets are not properly secured during games. For Veeneman, who witnessed friends suffer concussions throughout his youth, finding a solution was a personal crusade.

“I grew up playing football and that’s where we drew inspiration from. We see so many helmets coming off in games, and that’s largely due to the chin strap not being fastened properly.”

The duo set out to design a real-time safety warning system to improve athlete safety, drawing similarities to a vehicle’s seatbelt alert. Guided by a university professor, they discovered DEVCOM CBC’s ASIST patent and realized the military’s secure-sealing technology could be adapted into a smart chin strap to maximize helmet retention.

Upon their graduation, Veeneman and Shepard founded their company, known as Saturn Sports, LLC, where they serve as chief executive officer and chief science officer.

The Saturn Sports smart chin strap operates simply: when a player fastens their helmet, the strap passes through a housing unit. If it is fully inserted and pulled tightly enough, the embedded circuit completes, triggering a green light and sending a secure signal to the sideline. If a player forgets to buckle up or leaves the strap too loose, the system immediately alerts the training staff by lighting up red. Beyond real-time feedback, the universal-fit technology can monitor chin strap tension and provide valuable player safety analytics.

Translating this vision into reality required navigating the federal patent licensing landscape. The connection with Saturn Sports was facilitated by TechLink, the Department of War’s authorized technology transfer partner.

In April, DEVCOM CBC signed a partially exclusive license agreement with Saturn Sports. Guiding this effort was Jeff Salamone, a technology transfer specialist at the Center. Specialists in this role act as the primary liaison between the government and commercial partners, navigating complex negotiations of patent licensing and ensuring a smooth transition of intellectual property into the commercial market.

Salamone worked closely with the ASIST’s inventors at the Center and the developers at Saturn Sports. “We want our inventors on this side, as well as the developers on their side, to understand that federal partnerships can and do occur,” he said. “We’re here to make sure that this process facilitates mutual clarity and confidence.”

With the patent license officially secured, Saturn Sports is moving rapidly from concept to physical reality. The team has successfully raised nearly $376,000 to directly fund the development of their smart chin strap. Veeneman and Shepard are currently building partnerships with athletic programs and plan to have the ASIST-integrated technology in the hands of football players for live testing by the end of the year.

Walker highlighted the broader impact of the technology from the perspective of Center inventors. “We don’t always get to see the work that we do transition into a space where it’s on people and benefiting them,” she said. “Having our technology transition into the

sporting goods industry is super exciting. We produced this technology with the intent of helping the warfighter, and hopefully now we’re going to help a broader audience.”

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