Pittsburgh Penguins, Covestro & Carnegie Mellon University Engineering Partner for Rethink the Rink

The Pittsburgh Penguins are teaming up once again with international giants of science and technology, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Covestro, the official innovation partner of the Penguins. This marks the seventh annual “Rethink the Rink,” a continuing showcase of innovation and ingenuity to make hockey safer at every level, from youth hockey to the NHL.

The signature event will run from March 4 to 8, 2024, and will encourage CMU students to use Covestro’s leading edge material technologies to develop innovative prototypes of hockey equipment at the University’s makerspace, TechSpark. The event will culminate in a series of prototype pitches to a panel of judges with expertise in professional hockey, advanced materials and hockey equipment, with the best prototypes potentially continuing development and becoming commercially available. 

To learn more about the “Rethink the Rink” innovation partnership and this year’s Make-A-Thon project, watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svXSvLWuoZk. 

This year’s Rethink the Rink Make-A-Thon is focused on an important safety measure in hockey – neck protection equipment to protect a player’s neck from skate blades. Following the tragic passing of former Penguin Adam Johnson in October 2023, more hockey teams and leagues are instilling mandates that players utilize neck protection on the ice. 

Sixteen CMU students will have one week to ideate solutions, develop and test prototypes, and create a compelling presentation to explain their concepts to a panel of expert judges from the Penguins, Covestro, Bauer Hockey and CMU’s College of Engineering. To help them achieve their goal, the students will have help from coaches, including materials experts from Covestro and hockey professionals from the Penguins. 

“Safety is central to the work we do at Covestro,” said Samir Hifri, Covestro LLC chairman and president. “Combining safety with another of Covestro’s core strengths, innovation, to create an environment where the best and the brightest student minds can leverage insights from experts in hockey and material science is a win-win for all the organizations involved and the sport of hockey.”

The “Rethink the Rink” partnership began in 2017 when the Penguins, Covestro, and CMU joined forces to bolster player safety and foster a sustained pipeline of hockey innovation.