Auxetic foam is an advanced form of padding for helmets and athletic shoes. The material, which has a honeycomb structure, becomes denser as more pressure is applied. Betsy Condon and her husband Joe have licensed the technology from Florida State University and are hoping for a breakthrough with the military or with shoe companies. Betsy and Joe had extensive experience working in the manufacturing industry but eventually started a company in their garage. “We have certainly ridden the rollercoaster,” says Betsy, “with stomach-dropping moments.”

TRANSCRIPT:

Intro: 0:01

Inventors and their inventions. Welcome to Radio Cade a podcast from the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida. The museum is named after James Robert Cade , who invented Gatorade in 1965. My name is Richard Miles. We'll introduce you to inventors and the things that motivate them, we'll learn about their personal stories, how their inventions work, and how their ideas get from the laboratory to the marketplace.

Richard Miles: 0:37

Padding the resume is a bad thing, but is it? In the case of our guests this morning, Betsy Condon, padding is literally her resume and I'm talking to her about a new kind of foam padding that can be used among other things and football helmets and athletic shows. So welcome to the show. Betsy.

Betsy Condon: 0:53

Thank you.

Richard Miles: 0:54

So before we get into sort of your story and how you arrived at this, let's talk about the actual adventure that technology it's called, auxetic foam padding, A U X E T I C for our listeners who aren't familiar with that word. I wasn't familiar with the word. So it's foam padding. How exactly does it work? How does it differ than the padding? You might see, you know, athletic shoe today or a helmet today?

Betsy Condon: 1:19

So auxetic foam has been in laboratories for over 20 years. The problem was that no one could repeat the technology. Why would this be important? Because most foam padding is inadequate in applications where you need especially impact protection, or you need a little bit more advanced materials. And so auxectics have a negative poisons ratio. They actually function very differently than regular foam padding. You actually have had exposure to a uxetic materials and probably not even realized it in Kevlar. Kevlar is a type of auxetic fabric. Auxetics have been in laboratories for over 20 years, but no one could find enough repeatability in their processes to make the technology viable in the marketplace.

Richard Miles: 2:07

So Betsy, if I could interrupt you for a second, if I understand correctly, the difference in layman's terms, is it conventional foam? Like if you put pressure on or impact it expands right? And auxetic, it actually somehow condenses.

Betsy Condon: 2:20

Right, it compresses.

Richard Miles: 2:22

compresses. Okay.

Betsy Condon: 2:23

Yes. Thank you. So with auxetics, the stronger, the load, the more compression that you actually get, and you actually absorb more of the energy. So more compression on auxetic foam makes it more durable, more dense and provides more protection. So it can be applicable in instances where traditional foam would quote, bottom out. If you squeeze a piece of conventional foam, you can feel your fingers at the bottom of it. If you squeeze a piece of auxetic foam, you won't feel that it takes a lot to