Protective clothing with built-in sensors warns firefighters of too much heat

31/01/2020
Expertise

Imec, UGent, Brigade de Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris, Connect Group and Sioen have developed a firefighters’ suit with integrated sensors to drastically reduce burning incidents suffered by firefighters.

Firefighters in protective gear move toward flames in a smoke-filled interior, with sensor-equipped backpacks on their suits.
Firefighters in protective suits advance through a burning corridor, with sensor-equipped packs visible on their backs.
Five firefighters in protective suits and breathing masks pose inside a dark training container
Firefighter wearing a red protective suit with built-in sensors being adjusted by researchers

About imec

Imec is a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. The combination of our widely acclaimed leadership in microchip technology and profound software and ICT expertise is what makes us unique. By leveraging our world-class infrastructure and local and global ecosystem of partners across a multitude of industries, we create groundbreaking innovation in application domains such as healthcare, smart cities and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, energy and education.

As a trusted partner for companies, start-ups and universities we bring together more than 4,000 brilliant minds from over 97 nationalities. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium and has distributed R&D groups at a number of Flemish universities, in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, and offices in China, India and Japan. In 2018, imec's revenue (P&L) totaled 583 million euro. Further information on imec can be found at www.imec-int.com.

Imec is a registered trademark for the activities of IMEC International (a legal entity set up under Belgian law as a "stichting van openbaar nut”), imec Belgium (IMEC vzw supported by the Government of Flanders), imec the Netherlands (Stichting IMEC Nederland, part of Holst Centre which is supported by the Dutch Government), imec Taiwan (IMEC Taiwan Co.), imec China (IMEC Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.), imec India (Imec India Private Limited) and imec Florida (IMEC USA nanoelectronics design center).

Discover more

Researcher in a lab coat using a microscope in a materials research laboratory

Imo-imomec: a hidden gem in materials R&D and related services

28/08/2021
Longread
Expertise
Read more
Cleanroom technician in protective suit inspecting a semiconductor wafer

Custom chip manufacturing

Page
Expertise
Read more
Illustration of people inside cloud platforms linked by a global network of dotted lines and padlock icons

How the Web Failed Its Own Inventor

14/01/2020
Expertise
Read more
Two researchers in cleanroom suits review a laptop inside a semiconductor lab

Technology transfer of white box IP blocks

Page
Expertise
Read more
Exterior view of imec’s cleanroom and lab buildings under a cloudy sky

Infrastructure: semiconductor cleanrooms and state-of-the-art labs

Page
Expertise
Read more
Researchers in a cleanroom operating semiconductor equipment

Research

Page
Expertise
Read more
imec campus buildings under a cloudy sky, including a large white facility and a tall striped tower

About imec

Page
Expertise
Read more
Portrait of imec fellow Mircea Dusa in a white polo shirt against a leafy green background

Meet imec fellow Mircea Dusa

04/08/2026
Read more
Illustration of Earth connected by glowing data streams to microchips, wafers, and server racks

How hyperscalers are rethinking AI infrastructure

06/08/2026
Technology review
Interconnects
Read more

imec in your region

Looking for information about imec's activities in different parts of the world?

United Kingdom
United States
Qatar