Liberty Engineering team’s helmet prototype earns 2nd place in NFL competition Dr. Mark Horstemeyer, Dean of Liberty University’s School of Engineering, and his team of Ph.D. research fellows and undergraduate students have developed a football helmet that advanced as one of four finalists in the NFL’s sixth-annual “1st and Future” pitch competition, created to spur innovation in athlete health, safety, and performance. The Liberty work is associated with Genesis Helmets, Inc. Here is Dr. Horstemeyer’s conversation with the Morningline: The winners were announced Tuesday, Feb. 2, on the NFL Network, as part of Super Bowl LV Week in Tampa, Fla., with $150,000 in awards and research grants on the line. The Liberty team’s entry in the Innovations to Advance Player Health and Safety category of the competition was named the runner-up prize winner and awarded $25,000, which Horstemeyer said would be used to further develop the project in preparation for the NFL Helmet Challenge this summer. The other three finalists were start-up businesses based in Houston (Go2 Devices/PEEP Performance, LLC), Massachusetts (Nix, Inc.), and New York (Organic Robotics Corporation, the $50,000 grand prize winner).