We're here to change the status quo
Let’s make the game better, together
Founder Story
As a parent of three kids who all play outdoor sports in Texas, I’ve spent countless hours at games and practices in the heat. At the opening of football season, I went to my son’s game on a day when it was 107°F. Sitting in the stands, I struggled to stay cool—and I couldn’t stop thinking about the kids on the field, wearing pads and running on hot turf. If I was overheating just sitting there, what was happening to them?
When I got home, I dug into the guidance used in youth, college, and pro sports. Most of it measures the environment and asks coaches and parents to react after problems appear. But every body responds to heat differently. Weather isn’t the athlete. What was missing was real-time visibility into how each player was responding in that moment.
I started HeatSense to change that. We combine core temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, and WBGT context to make an athlete’s heat response visible in real time—so coaches can manage load sooner, structure smarter practices, and keep performance from dropping when temperatures rise. Parents gain transparency. Athletes get the feedback they need to compete confidently in tough conditions.
Outdoor sports are becoming extreme environments. HeatSense is how we move from reaction to readiness—bringing individualized visibility to the sideline when it matters most.
— Melissa Fortenberry, Founder & CEO
Meet our team
Melissa Fortenberry CEO/Founder
Melissa Fortenberry is the CEO and Founder of HeatSense, bringing more than 25 years of experience leading Strategy, Product, and Product Marketing across some of the world's most recognized brands — including Expedia, VRBO, Philips Electronics, and RVshare. She has a proven track record of scaling companies, launching category-defining products, and turning complex operational challenges into growth opportunities.
A wife and mother of three children who play outdoor sports in Texas, Melissa knows firsthand what's at stake. HeatSense is where her career, conviction, and experience converge: a track record of building technologies that solve real problems, a conviction that athlete safety has been reactive for too long, and the playbook and experience to change it.
LinkedIn
carson tinker
Carson Tinker knows what it means to fight through adversity — on the field and off. A 10-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl LVI Champion, Tinker was a three-time BCS National Champion long snapper at the University of Alabama before going on to a decade-long professional career.
Today, Tinker has brought that same tenacity back to Texas, where he serves as head football coach and athletic director at the high school level — and where the stakes of athlete safety feel deeply personal. As a husband and father of three, he's raising his children in the Texas heat, the same conditions his players face every day on the field. That lived reality is what draws him to HeatSense: not just as a coach responsible for keeping athletes safe, but as a parent who understands exactly what's at risk.
LinkedInMeet our advisors
D. Rod Walters II, DA, ATC
Dr. Rod Walters is a National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame athletic trainer with more than four decades of leadership in sports medicine and athlete safety, including 27 years as head athletic trainer including the University of South Carolina. He now serves as National Director of Athlete Safety at Andrews Athlete, where he works with institutions to certify, educate, and empower sports programs through evidence-based training, emergency preparedness, and athlete safety initiatives. He is an approved provider of emergency scenario training for the NFL conducting scenario based testing for teams. Walters also oversees the Medical Observer program for the Big 12 and Pac-12 conferences. A nationally recognized expert in exertional heat illness and emergency action planning, he has led independent investigations at the highest levels of collegiate and professional sport.
Medical Advisors
HeatSense is guided by a team of dedicated Medical Advisors comprised of leading PhDs specializing in thermoregulation, with decades of expertise in the complex interactions between heat, climate, and the human body. Their insights are critical to the success and scientific integrity of our solutions.
We welcome inquiries from those interested in learning more about the distinguished team supporting our work—please feel free to reach out to us directly for further information.