'Curious Conversations' podcast: Stefan Duma talks about the impact of the Helmet Lab
Stefan Duma joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about the history of the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab and the impact it has had on sports-related head injuries. He shared how a military research conference led him to study helmets as well as the critical role the lab’s relationships with the Virginia Tech football and sports medicine programs have played in advancing its pioneering research. Duma discussed the role of the helmet lab in helping to create a greater awareness about head injuries throughout all sports and described the helmet shell add-on fans can see in action during the football team’s Spring Game on April 13.
About Duma
Duma is a University Distinguished Professor and the Harry C. Wyatt Professor of Engineering in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics. He is also the director of the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Sciences and the founder of the Helmet Lab.
Takeaways
Duma and his team were the first to instrument football helmets and develop a rating system, which revolutionized the industry.
The Helmet Lab currently provides ratings for helmets for 11 sports, which are free to the public. The lab’s website gets about 5,000 visits each day, and that number can climb to almost 200,000 when new helmet ratings are released.
The Helmet Lab’s research has not only helped change the helmet industry, it’s also helped usher in a variety of other changes to sports, such as the amount of contact time allowed during youth football practices.
Learn more
Ten years of five-star ratings
Virginia Tech Helmet Ratings expand to include equestrians
Study provides the first data on concussion risk in youth football
About the podcast
"Curious Conversations" is a series of free-flowing conversations with Virginia Tech researchers that take place at the intersection of world-class research and everyday life. Produced and hosted by Virginia Tech writer and editor Travis Williams, university researchers share their expertise and motivations as well as the practical applications of their work in a format that more closely resembles chats at a cookout than classroom lectures. New episodes are shared each Tuesday.
