Warp Wins IDSA Bronze

August 17, 2016 akozlowski

Warp Wins IDSA Bronze

By Kevin Vititoe, Sr. Industrial Designer, Sherry Jones, Sr. Industrial Designer, James Lua, Sr. Industrial Designer, JR Rowland, Systems Engineer/UX Design Specialist, and Hannes Hertrich, Sr. Mechanical Engineer

The WARP is the world’s first 3D, automated, machine knitted, fully integrated lacrosse pocket and head. Designed for men’s lacrosse, the WARP is the most advanced and most consistent performing lacrosse head ever produced. A revolution for the game, the WARP eliminates the human error, imperfection, and inconsistency associated with hand stringing.

A New Approach

Since the inception of the game in the 1600’s, lacrosse pockets have been hand strung. Initially, Native American’s used natural fibers and leather, more recently players and manufacturers have turned to synthetic mesh materials. Hand-stringing a lacrosse pocket is highly personalized. Players string their heads to create customized pockets: low, mid, high, etc. Stringing a head is a specialty, some players rely on teammates or other “experts” to get the desired performance; consequently, no two heads throw exactly the same. Human error, the weather, the type of mesh, string tension and material stretch all impact the performance of a hand-strung pocket.

Is there a better way? Is it possible to produce a unified head/pocket from an automated machine that outperforms the “best” traditional head? Warrior Sports wanted to deliver better performance and consistency, that meant rethinking a process that’s been done by hand for over 200 years.

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About The Authors

Kevin Vititoe, Sr. Industrial Designer

Kevin specializes in sporting goods design. He loves the challenge of creating better-performing products using words like lighter, stronger, faster and safer as design goals. The diverse use of materials, manufacturing processes and products within this category keep him “hooked”. Born and raised in Canada, Kevin also makes his own maple syrup.

Sherry Jones, Sr. Industrial Designer

When Sherry joined the PD team, there were only 3 others. Over 20 years and 50 people later, she’s still with us! Excelling in concept sketching, she has heavily contributed to design in the sports industry, especially golf. A sports enthusiast herself, in 2004 she was invited to try out for the U.S Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team.

James Lua, Sr. Industrial Designer

James has unique empathy for each client’s respective end-users and is motivated to develop appropriate solutions for their unique challenges. He loves every phase of the design process, and thrives on problem solving, storytelling, and conceptual development. He is also a talented guitarist who helps compose original music for his band.

James Rowland, Systems Engineer/UX Design Specialist

We call him J.R., and aside from being an excellent addition to our engineering team, he is one of PD’s top golfers and fooseball players. With a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering, J.R.’s no stranger to tinkering with sensors and switches, and developing whatever electromechanical system we throw at him. Whether you’re developing electronics or playing golf, you want him on your team.

Hannes Hertrich,  Sr. Mechanical Engineer

Our staff “MacGyver” and a talented engineer with a woodworking and automotive background. Hannes enjoys finding solutions to complex problems while working within a very tight box. When the “pressure is on” and the constraints are many, he’s the guy!

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