Sports related concussions occur often in high school sports and can be detrimental to the adolescent brain. Current football helmet designs protect against impact and concussions, but could use improvement in design. Traditional helmets have a hard shell on the outside and a soft cushioning layer on the inside. One redesign of the football helmet is the inverted helmet concept. Previous research has shown that placing the cushioning layer on the outside may have better results to prevent concussions. My research focuses on determining the optimal foam to use for the inverted football helmet design. Tests will be performed on foam samples in a drop tower to simulate impact. The results will be analyzed to find the best shock absorbing foam for this application.

The SuperUROP program provides me a chance to conduct my own guided research and gives me access to many resources. I hope to gain more research experience and ultimately work towards a safer helmet design.