{"id":51006,"date":"2025-12-03T12:34:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T12:34:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/51006\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T12:34:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T12:34:31","slug":"liberty-high-school-engineering-project-leads-to-patent-for-baseball-helmet-safety-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/51006\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty High School engineering project leads to patent for baseball helmet safety technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Liberty High School<\/a> graduates have turned a senior-year class project into a patented invention that could transform baseball helmet safety.<\/p>\n

Sid Tekumalla and Joseph Barlow received a U.S. patent for a honeycomb structure that fits inside baseball helmets and recovers at least 90% of its shape after impact. The innovation allows helmets to be safely reused, addressing a persistent problem in the sport where helmets are typically discarded after a significant hit because the padding cannot maintain protective strength.<\/p>\n

The structure uses specially engineered Nylon 6 and Nylon 12 materials and could change equipment standards across youth, collegiate and professional baseball levels.<\/p>\n

The invention originated in Liberty High School\u2019s Project Lead The Way capstone engineering course, a four-course engineering pathway taught by Kristin Stuby. The students\u2019 classroom testing later proved valid through industry-standard evaluation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSid and Joseph are highly motivated young men who persevered through the patent process to obtain a patent on their PLTW capstone engineering project,\u201d Stuby said. \u201cWhat excites me most is that the small-scale testing they conducted in a high school setting was later confirmed through large-scale, industry-standard testing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tekumalla is now a junior at Penn State University double majoring in computer science and data science.<\/p>\n

Barlow will be graduating in May with degrees in aeronautical science, aviation safety and air traffic control from the Florida Institute of Technology,<\/p>\n

Two mentors guided the students through the patent process. Frank Schweighardt advised on material selection, arranged formal testing and provided technical guidance. Jim McDaniel, a patent attorney and colleague of Schweighardt, donated legal services to help file and secure the patent.<\/p>\n

Maureen Leeson, assistant superintendent of the Bethlehem Area School District, said the achievement demonstrates the district\u2019s commitment to providing students real-world learning opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s remarkable that their high school engineering coursework resulted in a U.S. patent, showcasing the real-world opportunities BASD provides,\u201d Leeson said. \u201cThis milestone shows what is possible when education, mentorship and student passion intersect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both inventors plan to pursue the sale or licensing of the patent as they continue their careers.<\/p>\n

Generative AI was used to draft this story, based on information provided by the Bethlehem Area School District. It was reviewed and edited by lehighvalleylive.com staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Liberty High School graduates have turned a senior-year class project into a patented invention that could transform…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,591],"class_list":{"0":"post-51006","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news","11":"tag-merlinmigration2014"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}