(Above) A team of tech builders from Chicago competes on a new show on TBS that premiered last Tuesday. Left to right: David Krawczyk, Neil Kumar, and Aaron Fazulak. (Photo obtained from TBS. Click on image to view larger version.)

10-Apr-16 – A concussion detection device the size of a quarter might be worth $1 million to a Chicago team based at tech hub 1871 in River North.

Three members of the team compete on a new show on the TBS cable channel that premiered last Tuesday. America’s Greatest Makers will follow 24 teams as they compete to see who can build the best “wearable device” that makes use of a tiny computer module manufactured by Intel.

The Intel module is called “Curie” and it is about the size of a single keyboard key.

The team calls itself “NWTN” (pronounced “Newton”). Their device will attach to the helmet, chin strap, or mouth guard of an athlete and send data to the mobile telephones of coaches.

“Anytime a hit is larger than a threshold that you set, it notifies the athletic trainer and coaches and lets them track all of those hits throughout their career,” says Neil Kumar (left), a 25-year-old computer engineer from Naperville.

According to David Krawczyk (right), a 25-year-old software engineer from Naperville, the device “shows exactly how the head moved during the hit and where the hit came from.” Information, he says, that is most useful to trainers.

The third member is Aaron Fazulak (left), a 27-year-old from Cleveland who co-founded DESIGNATION Labs, a tech design firm at 1871.

24 teams will be narrowed down to 15 to compete over five weeks. Five surviving teams will each get $100,000 and battle for a grand prize of $1 million. Celebrity judges include retired professional basketball player Shaquille O’Neal. The show is produced by Mark Burnett, who also produced Shark Tank, Survivor, and The Voice.

The episodes on which NWTN appear have been pre-recorded but details about how the team did are not being made public. One clue that they may have done well is that 1871 is currently promoting their team’s appearance on the show.

America’s Greatest Makers airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on TBS.