#United States #Pittsburgh #Carnegie Mellon #Covestro #Rethink the Rink

Innovative Designs in Hockey Safety: Rethink the Rink 2026

In March 2026, twenty innovative students from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) participated in the ninth annual Rethink the Rink Make-a-thon, a week-long program aiming to enhance safety in hockey. This initiative was made possible by partnerships with experts from Covestro, a leader in high-tech polymer materials, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Bauer Hockey, a renowned hockey equipment manufacturer.

The make-a-thon focused specifically on improving goalie chest protectors to better address concerns about impact absorption, mobility, and overall functionality. With the guidance of industry professionals, these students were divided into four teams, each tasked with designing a prototype that could revolutionize goalie safety gear.

Steve Kelley, Senior VP of Partnerships for the Penguins, emphasized the program's importance: “Rethink the Rink is critical to ensuring that an athlete's equipment performs at the highest levels while keeping them safe.” He noted that the creative input from CMU students could lead to significant advancements in protective standards for athletes.

The winning design featured innovative hexagonal impact plates and a unique cooling system, both essential for enhancing comfort and safety for goalies during play. This prototype not only utilized insights from the latest materials science but also drew inspiration from engineering principles used in aerospace and motorsports — fields known for their rigorous standards for safety and performance.

Samir Hifri, President of Covestro LLC, remarked, “Safety is critical in everything we do, whether in sports or daily life… The designs the CMU students created during this make-a-thon are a testament to what can be achieved when we embrace creativity and hard work.”

Following the event, the designs from the students will undergo further scrutiny, with Bauer Hockey set to offer their expertise to potentially bring the most promising concepts to market. Dan Bourgeois, VP of Product Innovation at Bauer Hockey, praised the students’ problem-solving approach, saying it was “exactly the kind of bold innovation our sport needs.”

CMU's Manufacturing Futures Institute Executive Director, Sandra DeVincent Wolf, noted that the make-a-thon provided students with a unique opportunity to engage in experiential learning across disciplines. “In just one week, they experience an intense course in engineering design and pitching solutions,” she explained, highlighting the long-term value of such partnerships for students’ development.

The Rethink the Rink initiative, launched back in 2018, has already significantly impacted the design of hockey rinks and player equipment, with prior years focusing on helmet safety, glove enhancements, and other protective gear improvements.

For more information about the Rethink the Rink Make-a-thon and Covestro’s commitment to innovating sports safety, please visit their official website.

In conclusion, the collaboration between CMU, Covestro, Bauer Hockey, and the Pittsburgh Penguins represents a holistic approach to safety in sports, merging education, innovation, and professional expertise to combat real-world challenges faced by athletes. As the industry continues to evolve, initiatives like these will play a crucial role in shaping the future of sports safety.