MIPS Creators Receive 2019 Polhem Prize

MIPS, the Swedish brain safety technology company that has been leading the way in helmet and brain safety with over 20 years of research, is proud to announce that founders Peter Halldin, Hans von Holst, and Svein Kleiven are awarded the 2019 Swedish Engineers Polhem Prize. The MIPS-patented Brain Protection System (BPS) is designed to reduce rotational motion transferred to the brain from angled impacts to the head. Now, the research trio behind the unique helmet technology is rewarded with Sweden’s oldest and finest technical award.

“MIPS is a fantastic testimony of technological innovation that makes a difference in everyday life through improved safety for recreational and professional athletes,” says Ulrika Lindstrand, President of the Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers (Sveriges Ingenjörer).

In 1995, Hans von Holst, then working as a brain surgeon with the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, began to explore how helmets were constructed after seeing too many people who had suffered head trauma despite wearing helmets. Together with Peter Halldin at KTH (The Royal Institute of Technology), they found that rotational motion can affect the brain and increase the risk for minor and severe brain injuries. At the same time Svein Kleiven and Hans von Holst started to develop the FE-computer model of the human brain that is used to measure the effects of MIPS and rotational motion. MIPS’ added brain protection system has been proven to reduce the rotational motion when implemented in a helmet by absorbing and redirecting energies and forces otherwise transmitted to the brain.

 “A helmet equipped with MIPS solution enables relative movement between the head and the helmet and takes into account the impact from all angles. In this way, we mimic the brain’s own protection system and thereby reduce the risk of both minor and more severe brain damage,” says Hans von Holst, brain surgeon and professor at KTH.

“Being awarded the Polhem Prize is a great honor for us. Our ambition has always been to reduce the risk of brain damage for helmet users worldwide. We believe that protection against rotational motion in helmets should be as obvious as having a seat belt in cars,” continues Peter Halldin, CSO at MIPS.

MIPS AB is a listed company that sells the protection system to helmet manufacturers worldwide. Today, the solution is used by manufacturers of horse riding helmets, motorcycle helmets, bike helmets, construction helmets, climbing helmets, mountain bike helmets, road bike helmets and ski helmets. By 2018, 9.2 million units had been sold to a wide range of helmet brands.

The awards ceremony will take place at the Polhemsfesten on November 6 in Stockholm. The prize winners each receive a Polhems medal in gold and parts of the prize sum of SEK 250,000.

About the Polhem Prize

The Polhem Prize is Sweden’s oldest and most prestigious technical award. It was founded in 1876 in memory of the inventor Christopher Polhem and is managed by Sveriges ingenjörer/ The Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers. The prize is awarded for high-level technological innovation or for an ingenious solution of a technical problem.

Among previous award winners are Baltzar von Platen and Carl Munthers for the refrigerator (1925), Håkan Lans for GPS (1995), Laila Ohlgren for the “green button” on mobile phones (2009), Petra Wadström for the water purifier Solvatten (2013).

About MIPS

MIPS specializes in helmet safety and protection of the brain. Based on an ingredient brand model, MIPS Brain Protection System (BPS) is sold to the global helmet industry. MIPS solutions are patented in all relevant markets and are based on more than 20 years of research and development together with the Royal Institute of Technology and the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. MIPS is the world leader in this field and cooperates with 78 helmet brands that offer 448 models equipped with MIPS BPS on the global helmet market.

The company’s headquarters, with 29 employees in research and development, sales, marketing and administration is located in Stockholm together with the test facility. For more information, visit www.mipsprotection.com

Media contact:

Greg Fisher, TRUE Communications,
greg@truecommunications.com,
+1 707 495 3756 (US)

Marcus Lindgren, MIPS,
marcus.lindgren@mipsprotection.com,
+46 70 111 21 21 (EU)