The 2023 Honorary Innovation Award went to a volleyball designed at the Tomas Bata University (TBU) in Zlín.
Zlín, December 14, 2023 - The 2023 Honorary Innovation Award went to a volleyball designed at the Tomas Bata University (TBU) in Zlín. This prestigious competition is announced regularly since 1996 by the Innovative Business Association of the Czech Republic.
The new type of volleyball was designed by the researchers of the Footwear Research Center (FRC), which is part of the University Institute, Tomas Bata University (TBU) in Zlín. The new ball called Handshake is intended for top international competitions - Olympic Games, World Championships, qualifying matches for these competitions, national competitions under the banner of the International Volleyball Federation in indoor volleyball.
"The name "Handshake" reflects the appearance of the ball, where the red and blue fields "shake hands" each to other and refers to fair play in sports. The ingenious design, thanks to which the load is evenly distributed over the entire surface of the ball, also ensures optimal aerodynamic properties, and the color and shape arrangement of the fields creates a very attractive visual effect during flight and rotation," explains the designer and researcher Dr. Zuzana Oharek Bahulová. Thanks to the combination of three colors, the ball is clearly visible during the game not only for the players but also for the spectators.
"At first glance, the new design looks modern and authentic. The "handshake" element that creates the red and blue part fits perfectly into the sports world and is perceived very positively by users. The ball meets the most demanding game requirements, which is confirmed by the certificate of the International Volleyball Federation. It has excellent flight characteristics and good visibility," describes the project researcher Dr. Martina Černeková.
"All ball fields have the same shape - this fact influenced significantly economic and ecological savings. "The economical one regards saving time, because we have one mold for all panels, and the ecological one regards material consumption, since off-cuts amount is significantly reduced during the cutting of panels," says Ing. Alena Grmelová, sales representative of the company Gala Prostějov, which now manufactures the balls
"A contract on the assignment of IP rights to this industrial design was just concluded with the company Gala, a.s., the only European manufacturer of top volleyball balls. The company is already mass-producing the ball. The design of this volleyball has been awarded before, namely the prestigious German Innovation Award for 2021 in the category Excellence in Business to Consumer – Travel, Sports & Outdoor Goods,” says Ing. Ivana Bartoníková, director of the Technology Transfer Center (TTC) of the University of Zlín, adds: "The company GALA a.s. responded to market demands for innovation in the design of the volleyball ball and to the needs of athletes to improve gaming characteristics of the ball. Both of the conditions were met, which is evident from the first enthusiastic feedback of volleyball players and an increase of customer demand. All this leads to the belief that the demand for this product will rise and a minimum 20% annual increase in sales is planned for the next three years".
The construction and design proposal of the volleyball was solved with the support of the Technological Agency of the Czech Republic. The transfer of knowledge from research to production was achieved by the staff of the Technology Transfer Center as part of the commercialization project, which was handled at the Tomas Bata University in Zlín. The company Gala Prostějov became the manufacturer.
