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Duke Football Trio Wins NFL's Grand Prize
1/31/2020 2:13:00 PM | Football
DURHAM, N.C. – The NFL announced Friday that former Duke football lettermen Clark Bulleit, Kevin Gehsmann, and Tim Skapek were named the grand winners of its 1st and Future innovations competition.
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The threesome, who are the co-founders of the company Protect3d, presented their innovation during the NFL's annual Super Bowl competition on stage at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The Duke group was then crowned winners of $50,000 and two tickets to Super Bowl LIV.
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"First off, congratulations to Clark, Kevin and Tim on this incredible accomplishment," Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. "We know how intellectually advanced they are individually, but it's especially rewarding to watch from afar as they use principles learned from athletics — teamwork, leadership, work ethic, innovation and selflessness — to achieve success. All three are outstanding representatives of their families, Duke University and our program. We could not be more proud of them while knowing their finest accomplishments are yet to come."
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The trio founded the company Protect3d, which revolutionizes athletic protection using 3D technology. The original concept started out as an engineering project for their then teammate and now New York Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones when he went down with a fractured left clavicle. They used a 3D scan of Jones to obtain a digital model and created nine prototypes of the pad, optimizing his range of motion with the Duke athletic medicine staff. After making slight modifications, the final 3D pad was printed in structurally sound material.
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Jones was back on the field just three weeks after his injury. He wore the custom pad for the remainder of the season, leading the Blue Devils to an 8-5 record and Independence Bowl victory over Temple.
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#GoDuke
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The threesome, who are the co-founders of the company Protect3d, presented their innovation during the NFL's annual Super Bowl competition on stage at the Miami Beach Convention Center. The Duke group was then crowned winners of $50,000 and two tickets to Super Bowl LIV.
Â
"First off, congratulations to Clark, Kevin and Tim on this incredible accomplishment," Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said. "We know how intellectually advanced they are individually, but it's especially rewarding to watch from afar as they use principles learned from athletics — teamwork, leadership, work ethic, innovation and selflessness — to achieve success. All three are outstanding representatives of their families, Duke University and our program. We could not be more proud of them while knowing their finest accomplishments are yet to come."
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The trio founded the company Protect3d, which revolutionizes athletic protection using 3D technology. The original concept started out as an engineering project for their then teammate and now New York Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones when he went down with a fractured left clavicle. They used a 3D scan of Jones to obtain a digital model and created nine prototypes of the pad, optimizing his range of motion with the Duke athletic medicine staff. After making slight modifications, the final 3D pad was printed in structurally sound material.
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Jones was back on the field just three weeks after his injury. He wore the custom pad for the remainder of the season, leading the Blue Devils to an 8-5 record and Independence Bowl victory over Temple.
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— Duke Football (@DukeFOOTBALL) January 31, 2020
Congrats to @kgehsmann, Tim Skapek, Clark Bulleit and their company Protect3d on winning the @NFL 1st and Future innovations competition ????#GoDuke pic.twitter.com/9hbSOLPBhG
#GoDuke
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