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KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – From a garage to a warehouse on Commercial Circle, Betsy and Joe Condon have seen the use of Auxadyne’s foam padding expand everywhere from the football field, to the battlefield, to the treatment room or the back of a horse.

Any profession that needs helmets needs foam padding. In Auxadyne’s warehouse there’s lots of it, draped over shelves, laid on tables and in the several products the company sells. Visitors are greeted by a pair of Yorkshire terriers, the “security team,” Betsy Condon jokes, named Gigi and Harry.

Both Joe and Betsy Condon had corporate experience in medical device manufacturing. Auxadyne was founded in 2015 with the help of a Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research grant and moved into its current 13,000-square-foot facility in 2016.

“We knew we wanted to make something. We were looking for a platform instead of one product. We wanted to have an array of products,” said Betsy Condon, Auxadyne’s CEO. “We combined our experience and launched our own company. Here we are four years later making products that protect people.”

Auxadyne is the only commercial maker of Auxetic foam in the world. Auxadyne’s auxetic foam technology was created in a Florida State laboratory, spearheaded by professor Changchun Zeng, to make the technology commercially accessible.

Auxetic foam is more impact resistant than conventional foam because it compresses toward the pressure, providing more support. Auxetic foam gets larger instead of thinner when it’s under a heavy load, and it bends without creasing.

“When you have a crease, you’re not bearing the load,” Betsy Condon said. The fact that we can bend without creasing means we never lose the ability to carry the load.”

The NFL is no stranger to concussions and the effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Winning the Head HealthTech Challenge, Auxadyne received a $86,000 grant from the NFL to design foam padding in the player’s helmets to better protect them.

Auxadyne also entered into an agreement with Light helmets, which are about two-thirds lighter than most current helmets. The change in a helmet’s weight can make all the difference concerning player safety, Auxadyne President Joe Condon said.

“All our initial test data supports the 25 years of academic research suggesting auxetic materials can open product design options that are not available with conventional foam padding,” Joe Condon said. “Light Helmets’ LS1 featuring Auxadyne’s XPF auxetic foam pad system is the lightest Virginia Tech five-star safety rated football helmet in the world. That should turn some heads, safely of course.”

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The military also came calling. The U.S. Army’s Advanced Combat Helmets have been in use since 2002 but have been subject to recalls and prone to concussion problems in the past. Auxadyne’s foam padding found its way into the army’s shell design to improve protection.

“They know they have a concussion problem with their current padding system, so they have had a higher protection standard that they’ve been trying to achieve since 2009,” Betsy Condon said. “We just finished a $450,000 grant to come up with better helmet padding solution in the current helmet geometry.”

Equestrian sports are associated with society’s upper rung, but serious head and spinal injuries are prevalent. Auxadyne is working on implementing its padding in equestrian saddles and helmets, for riders and horses.

“The whole idea is the same [as with football helmets]. The saddle is going to provide better protection and comfort for the horse. It’s thinner foam then what they’re use to using,” Betsy Condon said. “We were shocked how little protection was in an equestrian helmet, there’s more protection in a bicycle helmet.”

The Condons haven’t abandoned their medical device background either. Auxadyne makes insoles and chiropractor-designed cushions for lower back support. Foam padding is supplied to a St. Augustine-based company for ankle and knee braces.

While Keystone Heights is known more for its lakes than its high-skilled tech jobs, Betsy Condon added that most people in Clay County must commute for the high-wage jobs. She said Auxadyne had six employees and could expand in its current space if needed, as the company looks to adding its foam products to hockey helmets and neck guards, football pads and helicopter helmets in the future.

“My dream was high-tech, high-wage jobs in my hometown. There’s not a lot here you can do,” she said. “My dream was to have a reason for those people to be here.”

Joe Condon said Keystone Heights was well-positioned for longer commuters and having Auxadyne in the area was a benefit.

“We learned from the Clay County Economic Development Corporation that many Clay County residents leave Clay County every day and commute to their place of employment,” Joe Condon said. “Keystone Heights is a terrific place to live and we are doing our part to make it a wonderful place to work. This is our home and we are fully vested in our community.”