When you watch a sporting event and see an athlete wearing a mouthpiece, you know - the ones that protect their teeth from injury, there's a good chance it was designed by an inventor living in Murrells Inlet.
Dr. Hank Cross is Executive Vice President of Research and Development for Bite Tech, which donated $25,000 to The Citadel. The money will help the school continue the research he started on how things like mouthpieces impact human performance.
Dr. Cross' grandson is a baseball player on the Grand Strand. He noticed that the mouthpieces athletes wear restricted airflow. Dr. Cross got to work in his lab in Murrells Inlet, and ended up designing a new mouth guard that allows athletes to breathe easier. "My corporation has partnered with Under Armour. We are now selling this product, and it will be in mass distribution next year," Cross said.
And mouth guards are only the beginning. The new Dr. Hank Cross Human Performance at The Citadel will be a cutting edge human performance lab. The research they do won't only help athletes, they hope to also learn how to find relief for people suffering from multiple sclerosis and asthma.
Before he retired, Dr. Cross spent nearly 37 years at Colgate-Palmolive in product development. His experience in the sports industry, including being an Olympian in the 1950's led him to design products such as Etonic Golf and Running Shoes, Ram Golf Clubs, Bike Football Helmets and Bancroft Tennis Racquets.
He has served on the Sports Equipment and Technology Committee of the United States Olympic Committee and as Chairman and Executive Director of the United States Shooting Team. He is the past president of the Hockey Equipment Certification Council. He is also an honorary 22 member of the ASTM Committee for Sports Equipment and Facilities and has chaired its Task Force on standards for football helmets and mouth guards.
Dr. Cross hopes to one day have military personnel in combat wear the mouth guards. He says because the mouth guard allows the wearer to breathe more easily, it relaxes the wearer, allowing them better concentration and focus.
