CCM Hockey
AER-TEC —
Suspension
System
Role
Industrial Designer
Timeline
2021 — 2022
CCM Hockey
Industrial Designer
2021 — 2022
Led the design of the first cooling system in hockey protective equipment — and its integration across the full product line.
For decades, protective gear has been optimized for impact resistance, weight, and fit — but how the body handles heat had been left out of the equation. By engineering gaps between the body and the protective components, the system channels airflow, dissipates heat, and helps the player sustain performance through the game. Now the category standard.
Exploration of existing heat management solutions across sports — identifying the gap between recovery science and protective equipment design.
Concept directions exploring how to introduce suspension and airflow channels into existing protective geometries.
Physical prototypes built and tested across categories — iterating on suspension geometry, airflow paths, and material combinations under real load.
Thermal testing across all four product categories — quantifying airflow performance and heat dissipation against traditional constructions.
Heat distribution mapped against traditional constructions — confirming the system's thermal performance under real conditions.
The suspension system also enables protective components to overlap seamlessly, enhancing protection by eliminating gaps while maintaining full mobility.
Shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves, and shin guards. The AER-TEC suspension system commercialized across CCM's full protective lineup — for both player and goalie.
A category, rethought — protected by patent, carried at retail, and setting a new standard for how protective equipment thinks about between-shift recovery.
Covering the whole suspension system, filed in both US and Canada.
Shoulders, elbows, gloves, and shins — commercialized across CCM's full protective lineup, for both player and goalie.
The first protective suspension system in hockey engineered for thermal performance and recovery — not just impact.