Hypetex, the market leaders in colouring carbon fibre materials based in the UK, has announced that its Hypetex Kromaskin field hockey stick for Adidas has been selected as a finalist for the 2022 JEC Innovation Awards. Hypetex coloured advance materials are produced to meet the highest quality and technical standards required for many applications.

Hypetex was commissioned by Adidas to develop a market leading hockey stick differentiated from existing equipment not just by its unique pigmented carbon fibre finish, but also by its game changing hitting power and consistency. The patented range of Kromaskin sticks, created with support from project partners Textreme and Marque Makers, was found to outperform competitors in a benchmark study against eight other premium hockey sticks carried out by Loughborough’s Sports Technology Institute (STI), the company said in a press release.

Hypetex lead the design, engineering, materials, and production process development for the adidas field hockey stick project. By incorporating the stick’s finish colour within the outermost carbon fibre layer, the stick mould could be adjusted outwards, placing the highly structural spread tow materials right at the outer extremities of the mould cavity, increasing mechanical performance and maximising the structural benefits of the composite materials used.

Whilst the Kromaskin surface provides a stunning depth of colour with minimal finishing required after demoulding, the Hypetex technology, including an epoxy based expanding microsphere system used in the core, delivers significant performance gains on the hockey pitch. In tests at the STI, Adidas Kromaskin sticks had up to 16 per cent higher coefficient of restitution (COR), meaning they will return more energy and the ball will travel faster. In addition, through the production led design and materials used, the variation in COR was 70 per cent less than the other sticks on test, a significant reduction in the production inconsistencies common with the manufacturing of performance sporting goods.

Exhibiting as part of the Composites UK stand, Hypetex will display its full portfolio of uniquely coloured materials at JEC World including 3K woven styles, ultra-lightweight spread tow fabrics, UD materials, and new coloured flax products. The Hypetex Kromaskin hockey stick for adidas will also be on show in Paris as part of the JEC Innovation Planets platform.

The JEC Innovation Awards are recognised as the composite industry’s most prestigious awards. Over the last 16 years, the JEC Innovation Programme has involved nearly 1,900 companies worldwide. The award winners will be announced on April 26, 2022, in Paris, and Hypetex and Adidas are finalists in the Sports & Leisure category. 

“We are thrilled to be nominated as finalists for the 2022 JEC Innovation Awards and are delighted that the awards committee recognised the significant performance gains realised with the new adidas sticks as well as the stunning visual finish created by our Kromaskin technology,” Marc Cohen, CEO, Hypetex said, in a statement.