RESEARCH General Art

DESIGN
Student, moved by firefighters' heroism, redesigns helmet

Melissa Mitchell, News Editor
(217) 333-5491; melissa@uiuc.edu

5/1/03

Brad Kurz won a merit award from the Industrial Design Society of American for his update of the classic firefighter's helmet.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — As Americans learned of the heroic efforts demonstrated by members of the New York City Fire Department on 9/11, firefighters there and elsewhere instantly were catapulted into the public eye. With the flood of media images that followed came a heightened awareness of the on-the-job risks and dangers firefighters face daily.

Like other television viewers, Brad Kurz, a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, absorbed the powerful imagery. But for Kurz, an industrial design major from Schaumburg, Ill., the images fueled more than just a respect for the profession. They sparked his imagination and spirit of invention. For his senior thesis project, Kurz decided to update the design of the classic firefighter’s helmet.

His design combines stylistic elements of the traditional leather helmet – a design favored by firefighters he has surveyed – with modern materials and technology. The design also found favor with judges from the Industrial Design Society of America, who recently awarded him the group’s Merit Award, given to one senior from each school with an IDSA chapter.

Discussing the process involved in updating a product that is something of an icon, Kurz said he "quickly found that it would be a challenging project because firefighters are so picky about what they wear. If it doesn’t look like a firefighter’s helmet, they’ll reject it." He knew the redesign wouldn’t be easy because his research indicated that "others before me had tried to introduce ‘new and improved’ helmets but failed because the designs were not attractive enough."

"As I talked online to firefighters around the country, the issue of appearance only became more apparent," Kurz said. "They said, ‘Just make it look good.’ I asked, ‘What’s good?’ They said, ‘the traditional leather helmet with ornamental eagle.’ " Through all of his research, Kurz found that helmet style preferences have varied from region to region historically, but "New York firefighters still want to wear the traditional leather helmet, which uses a chromium tanning process that makes it more like metal and has the ornamental eagle on the front," he said. "After 9/11, the helmets started becoming more and more popular across the country."

While big on nostalgia, that style is not necessarily the best choice, in terms of performance, Kurz said. His update incorporates features of the traditional design, from the brass eagle insignia to the elongated, retro-style back brim. But instead of leather, the design material specified is a lightweight, Kevlar-reinforced fiberglass that can withstand high temperatures. Built into the brim are small LED flashlights, which generate very little heat, and replace the heavier flashlights that rest on top of the traditional model.

Redesigned goggles provide better face protection and breathing ability, and are easy to put on and take off. The helmet also has room to add an emerging communications technology that doesn’t require a bulky microphone in front of the firefighter’s mouth.