Joe Savoie

Hilbert Joseph Savoie Jr., known as Joe Savoie (25 January 1926, Pointe au Chen, Louisiana – 10 March 1996, Boutte, Louisiana), was a pioneering commercial diver and inventor of lightweight diving helmets, particularly the neck dam feature which allows the helmet to be sealed to the diver independently of the diving suit.

After the Second World War he got into the newly established offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, and California, as a diver, and was known for his skills in oxy-arc cutting. He also got involved in the development of surface supplied diving helmets used in the industry. Savoie had no formal engineering education, but had a talent for practical innovation, combined with the experience of using a variety of equipment in the field, some of it of his own design.