Sophia Thompson first heard of the SHIFT lab during a guest lecture from its principal investigator, Amanda Mills. At the time, Thompson was a fresh face in fashion and textile management, having just transferred into the program from human biology.  

The Smart Holistically Integrated and Functional Textiles (SHIFT) Research Group is a laboratory of graduate and undergraduate students working to produce wearable device prototypes. After hearing about the work, Thompson reached out immediately.

“I was so fascinated with what she brought up and all the products she worked on, and it just sparked my interest,” Thompson says. “ It wasn’t anything I thought I would walk into, but I’ve loved it.” 

Developing Designs

Thompson’s education in fashion development and product management has prepared her to tackle market research, business decisions and every step of the development process. Her major focuses on the management side of the fashion industry. 

The SHIFT lab, where Thompson gained hands-on experience developing products, is located in the Textiles Complex. The small, L-shaped room is lined with counters and devices, fit for all kinds of experimental and fabrication work. There are ovens, cutters, printers, sewing machines, inks and many more particular tools in each student’s designated work area.

Thompson did research and development at the SHIFT lab for almost two years, prior to graduating in the spring of 2026. She first started on a project producing sleeves that can detect when muscles contract with electrical activity, or EMG waves. Impulse Wellness, a health technology company, sponsored the project to create a device to aid movement for rehabilitation patients using those electrical currents. 

“It’s gone through a huge product cycle. We’re finally getting to the really awesome point where I get to conduct experiments,” Thompson says about her project.

Through her work on the muscle contraction sleeve, she gained experience with every step of the product development process. Within her first few weeks, she was learning how to operate different testing machines, work with a screen printer and execute fabrication techniques. Her work also included communicating with the sponsor of the project and conducting experiments, from tensile testing to electromagnetic detection. 

Diverse Applications

Thompson says her research at the SHIFT lab prepared her for the industry by allowing her to apply a range of skills. The work is a balance between the nitty gritty technical work and everything she learned in her time at the Wilson College. 

“I get to bring that prototype and product development knowledge from the classroom into what I do for research,” Thompson says. “You see products through from creation to conception, all the way to putting it onto the market and seeing your product become a living and breathing thing.”

Starting with no previous lab experience meant she was picking up skills on the fly, but Thompson says she learned to find the fun in experimentation.

“Research gives you a lot of really awesome lessons, like what things work and what things don’t. That’s awesome to take with you into the fashion industry where you are going to have a lot of trial and error,” Thompson says. 

Working on a Team

The SHIFT lab team consists of student researchers, both graduate and undergraduate, all with varying levels of experience and working on individual projects. Despite this, the environment in the small lab is collaborative. 

“Everyone has really niche backgrounds that combine a lot of different expertises, so when you have a question about something that is unknown to you, those are the best people to ask because they all have different trials of their own,” Thompson says. 

Thompson says Assistant Professor Amanda Mills played an instrumental role in making her experience so valuable, from building the supportive community to sharing her technical expertise.

“You always feel cared for and supported, no matter what is going on,” Thompson says. “I love the work that I did, and the people only sweetened the deal.”

Thompson says her experience in the SHIFT lab made her a more well-rounded student and opened her up to even more opportunities. Post graduation, she has accepted a full-time offer with Abercrombie & Fitch as an assistant technical designer in their Leadership Development Program.

“Doing research in general is just such a gift because it gives you so many transferable skills, no matter what you’re doing in the lab,” Thompson says.