this Marie Curie outgoing research grant concerns Finite Element Analysis of fire fighter torsos working under extreme conditions and covered with a composite of a 3-layer protective textile. The project will answer questions about conditions like heat stress and risk to life, as well as comfort of the fire fighter wearing such textile products. Since the objective is very complex, encompassing the investigation of several phenomena occurring simultaneously in relation to the torsos of fire fighters in action, it has never been investigated in a single approach. The project addresses knowledge acquisition and its further implementation as well as training. It is spread over the outgoing phase at the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University and the return phase at the department of textiles Ghent University.