Darian Boyd ’19: Testing Textiles at UL Solutions

Darian Boyd’s experience in the textile technology program gave him many exciting experiences and opportunities. From his Senior Design project, to his two internships, to his time spent in clubs and organizations he truly made the most of his time at the Wilson College of Textiles.

Boyd currently works at UL Solutions as a project handler. UL is a safety science company that works with product manufacturers to test products and ensure that they are physically and environmentally safe. Because of the wide range of items UL tests, textiles are just some of the many materials he has the opportunity to work with. 

Gaining valuable experience 

While he was a student at the Wilson College, Boyd was involved with a variety of different clubs and organizations, including the African American Textile Society (AATS) and Clown Nose Club. These organizations, Boyd says, helped him grow both personally and professionally.

“Clown Nose Club really helped me get out of my comfort zone because it made me get out and talk to random people,” Boyd says. “A lot of the time I was on campus just approaching random students to try and brighten their day.”

He also spent time during his college career in two internship roles. Boyd credits his internship at Elevate Textiles with teaching him how to gather and present data in a professional manner, something he now does in his day-to-day work at UL. His experience interning with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services allowed him to explore how his textile technology degree could be valuable even outside the traditional textile field.

“In industry you have to learn how to present information to your boss or supervisor without always giving them the whole backstory of what you did,” Boyd says.

Developing solutions in Senior Design

One of the most rewarding experiences Boyd had while at the Wilson College was Senior Design: the capstone course for textile technology and textile engineering students. Teams of four students work with industry sponsors to develop a solution to a real-world problem.

Sponsored by Manufacturing Solutions Center, Boyd’s Senior Design project focused on creating an industrial recycling network for a wide range of materials. Working with three other students this project taught Boyd a lot about teamwork and collaboration.

“The teams are randomly assigned, and everyone can have really different visions of where they want the project to go,” Boyd says. “Learning to compromise and work together really made the project turn out to be a great experience.”

Applying his degree at UL

In his current position, Boyd spends most of his time looking over lab results and interacting with clients. One of his favorite things he has worked on during his time at UL is witnessing the Manikin test, where sing manikins to simulate a human body, he was able to assess the protective capabilities of textile fabrics under exposure to flame. 

Boyd says the knowledge he gained about different fiber properties and the way textiles are developed helps him when testing textile-related products to understand why certain fabrics test the way that they do.

His biggest advice to incoming Wilson College students is to make as many connections as possible while in school. 

“Networking is so important, having connections with people can help you get opportunities you never would have had otherwise.”