A Saint Bernard sophomore won a special award recently for developing a smart helmet aimed at making football safer.
Palmer Noe, a sophomore at Saint Bernard School, entered his project in the Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair and received recognition from the Office of Naval Research – U.S. Navy / U.S. Marine Corps.
“I created an accessible, objective smart helmet that reports head impact data in real time to notify coaches when a player needs to be pulled off the field for the concussion protocol,” Palmer said.
This was done through programming in several languages such as C++ and JavaScript, and engineering a small module which can be used in any existing helmet, the East Lyme resident explained.
“I was able to apply conceptual physics involving kinetic and potential energy to create a system that is more accurate than the current NFL concussion evaluation process,” he said.
Palmer always wanted to play football, but never got the chance because his parents were concerned with the risk of head injuries and concussions in the sport.
“I wanted to make a project that could help prevent injuries and possibly give other kids the opportunity to play that I didn't have,” he said.
After thinking about the idea for many years, Palmer began working on it in October. It took about five months to complete the model, poster, research paper and informational video.
Palmer says his AP Physics 1 class at Saint Bernard with Mr. Mathioudakis taught him the proper concepts of physics for his model, and the computer science classes he has taken over the years with Mrs. Jakubielski helped him execute the project.
In the future, Palmer sees himself in either an engineering or computer science related career.
“To receive an award, especially of this level, for all the work I have been putting into engineering over the years is very rewarding and marks a big milestone for me and for my career,” Palmer said. “It shows I put in hard work, understood complex concepts in both computer and physical engineering, and persevered throughout the journey no matter how difficult it was.”
By Shari Marderness