ESPN the Magazine recently invited Dow Corning Corporation, to feature its new impact protection technology at this year’s Super Bowl in Miami, Florida.

The event (called NEXT) takes place on Friday, February 2, 2007, in Miami’s Design District and features everything that’s cutting edge in the world of sports, from fashion to technology.

The extravaganza will encompass two square blocks and host over 3,000 of the sports industry’s biggest VIPs and trendsetters – team owners, athletes, celebrities, coaches, and top consumer goods executives.

The event will provide the opportunity for Dow Corning to promote its patented Dow Corning® Active Protection System, a “smart” fabric treated with a specially formulated silicone coating. The fabric remains soft and flexible under normal conditions, but when struck by high-impact force, the material instantly becomes rigid to help protect the wearer against injury. When the impact is over, the material immediately becomes flexible again.

Because it is a fabric, it offers a unique combination of benefits that are particularly suitable for use in high-performance protective apparel and equipment:

• breathable and flexible for comfort and freedom of movement.
• It can be stitched directly into garments, making it less likely to shift or move under impact like rigid armor can.
• It is less bulky than hard armor, allowing for many creative and fashionable design possibilities.

The high-performance sports apparel market is responding enthusiastically to this new innovation in protective fabric that became commercially available only recently. In October 2006, Rukka, a Finland-based manufacturer of sports apparel, launched the first commercially available product to use Active Protection System fabric, a motorcycle riding suit. Many other U.S. and European sports apparel and equipment producers are currently evaluating the use of the Active Protection System as well.