As NFL and college football training camps begin preparing players for their upcoming 2010 seasons, the focus on the long-term damage of concussions is greater than ever. One industrial designer thinks he's found a solution: a better, safer helmet.
Football helmets have long followed a consistent model: A single, solid outer shell with a thick layer of padding inside. “It reminds me of bumper cars without the bumpers,” says Michael Princip, whose day job is as a designer for B/E Aerospace. That's an unacknowledged part of the problem, Princip maintains.
In the past year, there have been numerous articles about past players suffering from memory loss and dementia, states enacting concussion laws, and young players dyingfrom head trauma sustained on the field. Last week, the NFL distributed a stern warning to players on all 32 teams about the effects of head injuries, offering a reversal to its historically laissez-faire attitude toward concussions and brain injuries in general.
Princip has spent the last six months redesigning the football helmet so it can better dissipate energy from collisions. The result is the Bulwark, a design that still features internal padding, much like current helmets covered by a solid shell. But the true innovation lies on top of that shell: a shock-absorbing layer of pre-molded foam. “It's like an industrial-grade bubble wrap,” according to Princip. That padding layer would then be covered by four separate sections that comprise the outer shell.
The openings between those sections would act like crumple zones, giving flex to the outer portion of the helmet while absorbing a hit, thereby lessening trauma to the head. The design would also lighten the helmet's weight by using new materials to reduce the force of impact in helmet-to-helmet collisions.
Princip has been in talks with Liquidmetal Technologies about using the company’s proprietary alloys to develop the components of a Bulwark prototype, ditching the polycarbonate shells traditionally used in football headgear. The company is already familiar with sports equipment manufacturing, with its alloys being used in tennis rackets, golf clubs and even snowboards. “Liquidmetal can be molded pretty much like plastic forms," Princip says, "but you can get a product that’s thinner, stronger and lighter."
Despite his practical safety upgrades, Princip does acknowledge that the Bulwark won't fare well in the marketplace if it isn’t stylish. “Players aren’t going to wear it if it doesn’t look good,” he says.
To that end, Princip has turned his eye to the past, studying images of old-school cranial wear for inspiration. He derives his current design from previous-era MacGregor helmets as well as rugby helmets. “I was looking back and seeing these light-weight helmets," he says, "and it inspired me to think of a modern-day version.”
The Bulwark also incorporates design cues from more recent helmet designs, including the extended jaw plates that protect players from hits to the face, like on the Riddell Revolution Speed helmet worn by the likes of Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.
While the helmet remains at least six months from a firm prototype, Princip continues to refine his design, mulling over exactly what materials will comprise the Bulwark. Once he produces his first edition and can confirm its effectiveness and durability in testing, Princip plans to pitch his helmet primarily at youth and high school football players, since that’s where he feels the added safety is most needed.
“I see these kids playing Pop Warner with these big, heavy helmets and they look like the Great Gazoo out there," he says. "It sure seems like it’s missing the mark.”
Photos: Michael Princip
