It's a little-known fact that most military helmets—from those protecting ground troops in Iraq to those worn by air crews in fighter jets—are made in Simpson, Pennsylvania, by Gentex Corporation.
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Gentex products are so important to military efforts that the company often receives grants from the U.S. government to support research and development.
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"We are the world leader in air crew helmets for jet aircraft and rotary wing or helicopter applications," says John Pullo, vice president and general manager of Performance Materials at Gentex. "Gentex also manufactures 100 percent of the Marine Corps' and a third of the Army's ballistic helmets."
Pullo credits the company's technical edge in helmets to a long tradition of studying human performance needs through physiology, materials science and engineering. Gentex also manufactures laser, respiratory, chemical and acoustic protective devices that go into aircraft, ground troop applications and vehicles.
Making Personal Protection
More Comfortable
Gentex products are so important to military efforts that the company often receives grants from the U.S. government, usually in the form of congressional adds, to support a number of research and development efforts.
"Several years ago, Gentex was awarded $1.5 million to develop advanced materials to protect wearers against chemical and biological threats," Pullo says. "The project was called Innovative New Materials for Personal Protective Equipment, and it was specifically directed toward emergency responders and homeland security operations professionals."
Pullo says the Innovative New Materials program focused on both human protection and human performance. In the past, materials have tended to encapsulate the wearer—picture someone in a bulky haz-mat suit—which can severely limit both the mission duration and individual performance.
"We've been developing new materials that take advantage of nanotechnology schemes that will become the basis for next-generation chemical and biological protective clothing," says Pullo. "For example, Gentex is developing a protective suit that is lighter in weight, so it is less of a physiological burden in terms of heat and movement. These suits will allow first responders to stay on task for a longer period of time while still being effectively protected."
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“Ben Franklin has put us together with the right kinds of university-based resources to allow us to develop new technologies.”
—JOHN PULLO,
V.P & GENERAL MANAGER,
PERFORMANCE MATERIALS, GENTEX
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A Mission to Safety
Gentex's helmet business was supported by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern PA a few years ago in the form of a $51,000 investment. "We received the finances from Ben Franklin for a specific area of composites performance that related to a helicopter crew helmet," Pullo says.
Ben Franklin also connected Gentex with Penn State University. Together they created a computer model that predicted how composite materials would behave under different impact forces and conditions (crashes, combat, etc.)—a technology that was an important step forward in understanding energy transfer limitations in composites. He adds, "Ben Franklin has put us together with the right kinds of university-based resources to allow us to develop new technologies."
Overall, Pullo says the increasing concern about terrorism has presented some unique and unusual challenges to the individuals who must deal with the threats. "It's critical to find good solutions for these people so they can do their jobs effectively and be protected," he says. "Obviously, we feel a very strong sense of mission to their safety and performance and to the overall protection of our country."
From the October/November 2007 issue
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