{"id":237913,"date":"2025-11-17T07:30:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T12:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=237913"},"modified":"2025-11-17T11:48:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T16:48:27","slug":"uconns-korey-stringer-institute-opens-new-occupational-heat-safety-lab-with-industry-partner-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/11\/uconns-korey-stringer-institute-opens-new-occupational-heat-safety-lab-with-industry-partner-support\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn\u2019s Korey Stringer Institute Opens New Occupational Heat Safety Lab with Industry Partner Support"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

The Korey Stringer Institute (KSI)<\/a> at UConn has unveiled a new state-of-the-art facility to support their growing work on occupational heat safety.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The National\u00a0Laboratory\u00a0for\u00a0Occupational\u00a0Heat Safety at UConn\u2019s Korey Stringer Institute Powered by Magid & MISSION officially opened on Nov. 12 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the 750-square-foot site in Gampel Pavilion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

KSI has a close relationship with both MISSION and Magid to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of their products through KSI\u2019s robust scientific testing and research capabilities.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to expand our partnership with both MISSION and Magid,\u201d says Douglas Casa, KSI CEO and Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in Kinesiology. \u201cOur collaboration does so much to improve safety for laborers and athletes around the world. It provides credibility for the effectiveness of innovative products, and KSI has even more experience working with these populations in real-life conditions in the best facilities possible.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\r\n
\"Douglas\r\n
Douglas Casa speaks at the podium for the opening of the National Laboratory for Occupational Heat Safety at UConn\u2019s Korey Stringer Institute Powered by Magid & MISSION (UConn Foundation Photo)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"Interior\r\n
The interior of the National Laboratory for Occupational Heat Safety at UConn\u2019s Korey Stringer Institute Powered by Magid & MISSION (Contributed photo)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"Interior\r\n
The interior of the National Laboratory for Occupational Heat Safety at UConn\u2019s Korey Stringer Institute Powered by Magid & MISSION (Contributed photo)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The National Lab for Occupational Heat Safety is KSI\u2019s second state-of-the-art facility on UConn\u2019s campus to conduct its heat safety research, the first being the MISSION Heat Lab which opened in 2017.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

“MISSION is proud to partner with\u00a0KSI\u00a0on our second Heat Lab at UConn. Through innovative solutions like cooling, we’re dedicated to improving heat safety for both laborers and athletes in all conditions. We\u2019re excited to continue this journey together and look forward to the accomplishments we’ll achieve at the new Occupational Heat Safety Lab,\u201d says MISSION CEO Jocelyn\u00a0Thornton.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Founded in 2009 by a group of world-class athletes, including Serena Williams, Dwyane Wade, and Drew Brees, MISSION is a leader in head-to-toe cooling and heat-relief product innovations designed to improve safety and performance for anyone who works, plays, or lives in the heat. With a strong commitment to addressing heat-related risks, MISSION has established its Heat Health™ & Safety division, focused on providing comprehensive solutions that enhance employee safety in high-temperature environments.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud to partner with KSI, an organization that shares our commitment to protecting workers from preventable injuries. Together, we\u2019re combining innovation and expertise to advance heat safety solutions that keep people safe where it matters most \u2014 on the job,\u201d says Gary Cohen, family owner and senior director of global product strategy and quality at Magid.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Founded in 1946,\u202fMagid is a fourth-generation\u202fand family-owned leader in the safety industry using in-house manufacturing and a worldwide network of suppliers to create personal protective equipment innovations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cThis new facility ideally positions KSI to be a major player to increase attention and understanding of what we can do to keep workers productive and safe when they have to do their jobs in the heat,\u201d says Casa.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Alongside being able to study the impact of heat, humidity, sun, and wind, the new facility will allow KSI\u2019s team of researchers to expand their work to altitude up to 12,000 feet. The facility contains equipment that can remove oxygen from the air, mimicking high-altitude conditions. This is important as workers and warfighters are sometimes battling not just extreme heat, but altitude as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

KSI has been a global leader in heat safety research since its founding in 2010. Their work focuses on three populations: athletes, warfighters, and laborers. Because of their specialized research capabilities and unique expertise, KSI serves as a heat mitigation provider for some of America\u2019s largest companies, like Delta Airlines and UPS, to tackle the health and economic impact of heat stress. KSI is located within UConn\u2019s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR<\/a>), and the institute recently expanded with a satellite lab, KSI at UNF, within the Brooks College of Health at the University of North Florida.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cThe Korey Stringer Institute and its globally recognized faculty from the Department of Kinesiology provide a world-class demonstration of UConn\u2019s commitment to impactful research, preeminent expertise, and public service,\u201d says UConn President Radenka Maric. \u201cThis new facility is a welcome addition to our University, and will help KSI expand and enhance its mission, which is more critical now than ever.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As the planet continues to warm, the need for research on laborer heat safety has only been increasing, calling for KSI to expand its research capacity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cHeat is an ever-present risk in an ever-warming climate, and it\u2019s likely going to continue increasing at an exponential pace,\u201d Casa says. \u201cEach ensuing year will likely have greater risk than the year before.\u201d<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Laboratory for Occupational Heat Safety at UConn\u2019s Korey Stringer Institute Powered by Magid & MISSION officially opened on Nov. 12 with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the 750-square-foot site in Gampel Pavilion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":237914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2224,2460,2231,2299,2648,2076,2235,2225,2227,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2140],"class_list":["post-237913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cahnr","category-faculty","category-health-well-being","category-kinesiology","category-blue-research","category-research","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-storrs","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-09 01:49:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237913"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237979,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237913\/revisions\/237979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/237914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237913"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=237913"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=237913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}