What do riot police and child road safety have in common?

In this episode of The Sports Engineering Podcast, we speak with Dr Will Dawber, a Research Associate at Imperial College London’s Head Lab, about how engineers study brain injury and what that means for helmet design, road safety, and beyond. From testing riot police helmets to modelling child brain injury in cycling crashes, Will explains how biomechanics, simulations, and impact testing are helping researchers better understand how the brain responds to force. We also explore the Vision Zero movement, the challenges of defining and diagnosing concussion, and how sports engineering methods are increasingly being used to tackle safety problems far outside sport.