A winning collaboration: Pittsburgh Penguins, Covestro and Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering launch year two of 'Rethink the Rink'

PITTSBURGH, March 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Covestro and Carnegie Mellon University's (CMU's) College of Engineering will host their second annual Make-a-thon, kicking off year two of the "Rethink the Rink" initiative. The unlikely trio joined forces last year in this first-of-its kind collaboration to make hockey safer at all levels. As it continues to shoot for a safer game, Rethink the Rink 2019 will focus on a new aspect of hockey innovation – player safety equipment.

To learn more about the evolution of Rethink the Rink, watch this video:
http://bit.ly/RethinkTheRink2019

"When we started this a year ago, the focus was on redesigning the boards and glass in an attempt to make the game safer for players of all ages," said David Morehouse, president and CEO of the Penguins. "This year's project focuses on the players' equipment, and could involve everything from helmets and gloves to shoulder pads to goalie masks."

The Make-a-thon will bring together diverse teams of CMU engineering students for a weeklong ideation event at the school's Makerspace, starting today through March 15. The students will have access to advanced materials and technical expertise from Covestro, as they explore ways to further improve upon protective equipment that is already designed for player safety. Their challenge is to uncover material solutions that will strengthen player protection, without inhibiting player performance.

But this year's Make-a-thon participants have a starting advantage over last year's cohort.

"We're a stronger, more practiced team, having made significant progress since our first Make-a-thon," said Jerry MacCleary, chairman and CEO of Covestro LLC. "We've spent the better part of a year transforming those initial ideas and concepts into a next-generation dasher board prototype, which is in production now. There's a lot of momentum behind this effort, and it will continue to grow as the initiative evolves."

This week, the students will design and develop basic prototypes, which will be unveiled during a presentation and awards ceremony March 15. The ceremony will take place in the newly named Covestro Innovation Rink at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry.

"We now have a literal innovation arena to test the concepts and ideas coming out of Rethink the Rink. It's a fitting backdrop for a collaboration that is already pushing boundaries and delivering promising results," said MacCleary.  

"When students learn to leverage each other's backgrounds in different disciplines to solve a common challenge, they gain a valuable experience in real-world teamwork," said Jonathan Cagan, interim dean of the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.

"When you add in coaching from the professional experts from Covestro and the Penguins to guide their problem-solving process, it's a win-win situation. We call that process 'Advanced Collaboration^SM.'"

About Covestro LLC:
Covestro LLC is one of the leading producers of high-performance polymers in North America and is part of the global Covestro business, which is among the world's largest polymer companies with 2018 sales of EUR 14.6 billion. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, construction, wood processing and furniture, electrical and electronics, and healthcare industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics and the chemical industry itself. Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employed approximately 16,800 people at the end of 2018. Find more information at www.covestro.us.   

About Carnegie Mellon University: 
Carnegie Mellon (www.cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 13,000 students in the university's seven schools and colleges benefit from a small faculty-to-student ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real world problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. 

Media Contacts:

Pittsburgh Penguins: Tom McMillan, 412-255-1828, [email protected]   
Covestro: Bob Walker, 412-413-2369, [email protected]
Carnegie Mellon Engineering: Lisa Kulick, 412-268-5444, [email protected]

SOURCE Covestro LLC

Related Links

http://www.covestro.com/en