Every engineering student completes a senior design course as the culmination of their studies, and it’s no different for students of textiles. Seniors majoring in textile technology or textile engineering spent the year developing products and processes to solve real world problems for corporate sponsors, from Volvo to Meta. 

The capstone course is an opportunity for engineering and technology students to apply what they have learned in the classroom to open-ended problems. The teams employed a variety of techniques to test fiber tenacity, weld together delicate fabrics, extrude experimental blends, 3-D print prototypes and so much more. 

Competing and Problem Solving

“Senior Design has helped to build comradery as a team, learning how to work together through a lot of difficult projects and problems,” said Deacon Petree, a senior studying textile technology. 

The seniors presented their work at Design Day on April 28, a poster session open to the community. A panel of judges, both industry experts and Wilson College faculty, assessed the projects based on their technical applications and awarded gift cards to the top three teams.

• 1st Place
  • Project: Development of a 3D-Printed Laundry Device for Sorbent-Based Cleaning of Firefighter Turnout Gear
  • Group Members: Anna Claire Joshi, Haleigh Mullikin
  • Sponsors: NC State’s Milliken Textile Protection and Comfort Center and Sootsoap
• 2nd Place
  • Project: “O-Boom” Oil Reactive Gasket
  • Group Members: Kiersten Baumgartner, Kennedi Hosey, Michael Oman
  • Sponsor: Hitachi Energy
• 3rd Place
  • Project: Stretch and Recovery Without Spandex for Wearables
  • Group Members: Nicholas Domnick, Emma Otten, Caeden West
  • Sponsor: Meta

Anna Claire Joshi and Haleigh Mullikin, both seniors in textile technology, developed a new way to clean firefighting gear of contaminants using a 3-D printed device using sorbent materials. 

Their project started with extensive research about hazardous materials in firefighting and the types of materials that could address the issue. Then, they went through several vigorous testing phases, both for their chemical absorbents and delivery device.

“I really enjoyed being able to get hands-on lab experience and putting into practice what we were researching,” Mullikin said about the process.

Building Trust and Tech

A major part of the learning curve is team collaboration. From developing ideas, researching technical and commercial information, applying technologies from across the college and effectively solving their proposed problem, teams of two to four students had to communicate with each other, their collaborators in the Wilson College and their corporate sponsors. 

“Senior Design has helped to build comradery as a team, learning how to work together through a lot of difficult projects and problems,” said Petree. He worked with Abigayle Carr and Nicole Nguyen to develop cosmetic defect evaluation for Apple using digital microscopy, image processing and colorimetric analysis. 

Whether they were developing new stretch fabrics without spandex for Meta, affordable cooling sleepwear for Hanes or developing a standardized process for hemp textile testing, the seniors gained valuable experience in product and process development that will reach far beyond their years at the Wilson College.

Flip through the booklet below to learn more about the teams’ projects and see pictures of the process.