James Ferguson came to the United States from his native Scotland to design nuclear power plants.
After moving to Cape Elizabeth, the electrical engineer and soccer coach came up with a headband to help his young players overcome their fear of using their heads.
“I made a little protection device to help them gain confidence in heading the ball. It was a honeycomb structure I came up with,” he said.
The concept became a building block for a patented, shock-absorbing material developed by Ferguson’s company, Alba-Technic LLC, which is based in Winthrop.
On Tuesday, the National Football League, Under Armour, GE and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology announced that the design was among five finalists in the Head Health Challenge III.
The competition was created to facilitate the discovery, design and development of advanced materials that better absorb or dissipate contact and have the potential to improve the performance of protective gear, playing surfaces and equipment for athletes, the military and other applications.
“That alone is quite an achievement for a small Maine company,” Ferguson said.
“They were looking for highly impact-absorbent materials that could be used not only in headgear but also in other body armor,” he added.
Alba-Technic will receive $250,000 to continue refining its materials. Next year, an overall winner will be chosen and will earn the $500,000 grand prize.
“The goal is to see how far we can push the different laws of physics on material science,” Ferguson said.
He said that Alba-Technic spent 10 years developing its materials and incorporating them into a headband-style piece of protective head gear called the “Smarty.” It was designed specifically as a medical device to protect the elderly, and others prone to falls, from head injuries.
Made with a two-layer system, the outer material is soft in its normal state but becomes harder on impact. It surrounds an inner honeycomb layer of softer material that further dissipates the effect of a blow.
“Each component works well on its own, but when you combine them, there’s a synergistic effect that was entirely unexpected,” Ferguson said.
Alba-Technic has worked with the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Health Administration research laboratory in Tampa, Florida, and the University of Maine’s Advanced Biomechanics Laboratory for Reduction and Rehabilitation. Within six months, Alba-Technic expects to begin producing the Smarty in large quantities at an in-state facility staffed by Maine workers.
Ferguson is confident his company’s product can be used in many applications, including football helmets, protective equipment or playing surfaces.
“They didn’t want us to focus strictly on helmets, although that is a real pressing need with all the concussion data that’s out there,” he said. “We know for a fact that we can help with a concussion.”