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Wilson College of Textiles

2016-17 Senior Design Projects

William Guthrie, Victoria Rind, and Laurel Timko smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Hanesbrands Inc.

Team Members

William Guthrie, Victoria Rind, Laurel Timko

Project Description

Disruptive technologies, such as 3D printing, could redefine how we construct garments in the future. HBI is looking to answer the question “Can 3D printing be utilized for garment manufacturing”? The goal of this design team is to develop applications/products/concepts that utilize 3D printing that will appeal to consumers. The team will benchmark available 3D print materials, establishing the pros & cons of each, and in doing so will identify the potential barriers of 3D printing for manufacturing garments. The team will generate a finished concept that upholds to the comfort and durable integrity of a garment.

Michaela Zuraff, Paul Burke, and Phil Younis smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Eastman Chemical

Team Members

Michaela Zuraff, Paul Burke, Phil Younis

Project Description

Eastman manufactures chemicals, fibers and plastics materials which are used by our customers as key ingredients to make the products that you use every day. The overall scope of this project is to design knit fabrics for intimate apparel that contain acetate, nylon and spandex. Benchmark fabric properties against competitive fabrics in terms of moisture management, cool feeling, odor retention, dimensional stability to laundering, etc. The objective of the design team is to select a fabric which is optimized for intimate apparel applications with the ultimate goal of constructing a functional garment.

Kathryn Hayes, Maggie Manning, and Kaylee Smith smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Hanesbrands Inc.

Team Members

Kathryn Hayes, Maggie Manning, Kaylee Smith

Project Description

The objective of the design project is to develop an auto‐adjusting bra strap (no hardware) exploring both existing fabrics for activewear and new materials. The strap can be covered or uncovered. The straps need to be designed to give maximum support and performance under a large amount of stress. The comfort of the bra should keep in mind adjustability, cushioning, anti‐chafe and anti‐slip. The concept should adjust based on stress related to activity level while at the same time look modern and sporty on a hanger. Ideally, the design will visually speak to the technology story on the hanger.

Hannah Dewey, Braeden Earp, and Sam Jasper smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Medline

Team Members

Hannah Dewey, Braeden Earp, Sam Jasper

Project Description

Environmental Staff (EVS) are tasked with cleaning an entire hospital every day. Infection rates are linked to improper cleaning procedures and minimal understanding of cross contamination and disinfection. Today, an EVS staff person cleans 20 rooms per day for an average of 15 minutes per room. They are tasked with understanding dilution rates depending on chemical makeup and proper surface times to ensure disinfection. Most cleaning is done with a microfiber cloth and a quaternary based chemical. This project team will determine the ability to distinguish various chemical levels required for cleaning, and when sufficient chemical quantities remain present in microfiber cloths. This design team will create a microfiber towel that visually signifies when a chemical is no longer at the proper dilution rate and can withstand industrial laundering.

Ashton Dobbins, Alex Werts, and Nick Sullivan smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Cortland Company

Team Members

Ashton Dobbins, Alex Werts, Nick Sullivan

Project Description

Recent years has seen a marked increase in the activity levels of adults in the United States. A shift toward a more active lifestyle has shown significant benefits for the overall physical and cardiovascular health of the participants. However, this trend has resulted in a rise in sports and activity related injuries among middle aged individuals. Many of the injuries occur in the patient’s major joints, with an increased prevalence in the knee and shoulder. This student team will fabricate prototypes for a novel suture anchor used in surgeries for joint repair. These prototypes will be evaluated for physical and mechanical performance utilizing test methods and techniques typical for all suture anchor medical devices. The successful project team will utilize a combination of engineering techniques; textile structure, forming method, raw material(s), assembly methods, thermal forming/joining technologies or other strategies to create an all suture anchor. A benchmark analysis of the currently available products should be conducted with comparisons presented on each design and its key features including delivery sizes and biomechanical performance once implanted.

Jinhan Lu, Jacob Stinson, and Drew Hoyle smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

POINT 3 Basketball

Team Members

Jinhan Lu, Jacob Stinson, Drew Hoyle

Project Description

POINT 3 Basketball was created by ballplayers who know the feeling of a sweaty hand leading to a turnover, long shirt sleeves preventing quick catch and release on a jumper, a regular cotton T‐shirt just not holding up to the kind of ball you play. DRYV is a patented textile technology that integrates an absorbent exterior into a moisture wicking garment – like a towel built directly into your gear. We are seeking assistance to both 1) develop a quantitative standard for the performance of DRYV and 2) improve the core functionality of this technology. This design team will develop a universal performance standard testing of fabric samples and interpretation of this test data. The design team will also provide solutions to improve the functionality of DRYV through the development of new high performance wicking and absorbing technologies. Design/development solutions presented by the team will need to not only focus on the efficacy of wicking and absorbing, but how harmoniously the independent materials can be combined in a performance garment.

Zach Tousignant, Andrea McCauley, and Austin Coon smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Army Research Office

Team Members

Zach Tousignant, Andrea McCauley, Austin Coon

Project Description

Military Working Dogs serve in a wide range of capacities within the US military including security, patrol, explosives detection, tracking, search and rescue, guard, sentry and tactical duty. During advanced training multi‐purpose canines will receive negative reinforcement during a “mis‐bite” on a handler or trainer. This negative behavioral reinforcement can remain throughout training and into tactical situations where a canine will disengage from a bite for fear of punishment from its handler. Disengagement during a tactical operation poses a significant liability, not only to the canine but the team the canine supports. The goal of this project is to develop a feedback mechanism into an innovative training bite sleeve that differentiates between a good bite and a mis‐bite. The design team will design and construct the sleeve, meeting the criteria for handle and K9 safety.

Katavia Teachey, Cody Brown, and Nathan Wintermute smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

TPACC/NASA

Team Members

Katavia Teachey, Cody Brown, Nathan Wintermute

Project Description

Wildland fires can be extremely unpredictable and even the best trained wildland firefighters may find themselves in a situation where they cannot escape the fire. For these entrapment scenarios, the firefighter’s last line of defense is the emergency fire shelter, which is carried by the firefighter at all times when in the field. These shelters are currently a two‐layer system where the outer layer is an aluminized silica fabric and the inner layer is an aluminized fiberglass fabric and are folded into a small brick shape and vacuum‐sealed to reduce overall package size. The current shelter fails during direct flame contact situations, particularly at the seams. Ongoing research being performed by TPACC is finding new materials and layering concepts for these shelters for improved fire blocking performance and are looking for senior design students to incorporate these new materials/layers with innovative designs, constructions, and packaging that minimizes overall weight and minimize heat transfer to the firefighter inside.

Emma Thiria, Evan London, and Tyler Henson smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Gryppers

Team Members

Emma Thiria, Evan London, Tyler Henson

Project Description

Gryppers, Inc. is focused on creating cutting edge solutions for our users most undervalued assets. As part of that we have identified the foot, more specifically the phalanges as the next area in need of our protective compression solution. We will change the game in the “sock industry” and apply our core values of prevention, protection, and performance. The goal of the design team is to develop a “sock‐type” garment that will protect the toes, increase performance, and wick moisture. We do not want to just help athletes play the sports they love; we want to change the game!

Jack McGhee, Brandi Cole, and Greg Redden smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Terrot/ Hanesbrands Inc.

Team Members

Jack McGhee, Brandi Cole, Greg Redden

Project Description

The objective of this project is to explore the use of an innovative knit design tool fabricated by Terrot toward the formation of innovative performance fabrics for men’s and women’s apparel. The student team will work to develop performance fibers and fabrics without finishes that appeal to the consumer and is durable to use specifications (i.e. wash cycles, etc). The product concept may include performance features such as cooling, warming, wicking, evaporating. Students will conduct market research to determine desired performance characteristics and rank them. They will then determine which fibers give said performance characteristics. Students must also keep in mind that the overall visual appearance of the garment is as important (if not more so) than the performance – this can be achieve via fiber/filament selection and cross‐dyeing.

Shivam Desai, Taylor Springs, and Yash Mehta smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Under Armour

Team Members

Shivam Desai, Taylor Springs, Yash Mehta

Project Description

The focus of this project is innovative sock printing techniques. The objective of this project team is both functional and aesthetic design with the primary emphasis on 360 tubular printing. Questions the team should be thinking about should include, but are not limited to: Is there a way to engineer a dye/jig to apply heat‐and‐ pressure using flat sublimation paper? Is there a digital opportunity? What is the customization potential? This team will have an opportunity to work with the College of Design to perform a consumer Insight exploration on socks in general and to understand new areas/opportunities for innovation in the space with a path to prototyping.

Jack Smolarek, Mitch Weston, and Justin Scholper smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Lumenus

Team Members

Jack Smolarek, Mitch Weston, Justin Scholper

Project Description

Lumenus is a startup company that has created a line of tech‐laced apparel, with the primary technology being smart LED lighting embedded into the product. Traditional manufacturing techniques are not sufficient for long‐term sustainable development of products. Therefore we are looking for new methods, technologies, and fabrications for inserting surface technology into the gear. This design team will determine what alternative options exist for digital RGB LED strips to be wired together and embedded into the garment, identifying options for fabrication that eliminate color variances, brightness, dispersion, and general consistency of lighting across lines/product. A manufacturing process and suggestions for development in a traditional production line will be established, including methodologies and instruction on the order of operations across the supply chain.

Connor Metz, Hannah Boaz, and Justin Ridgon smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Saab Barracuda

Team Members

Connor Metz, Hannah Boaz, Justin Ridgon

Project Description

Saab Barracuda LLC designs and manufactures multispectral camouflage systems to prevent detection by enemy sensors. Space and weight are critical considerations in the selection of all carried military items. The objective for this team is to determine new solutions for thermal patterning flexibility. Fabrication and control of thermal pattern designs will be studied using computer aided design. The student team will investigate process challenges for throughput/cost/pattern resolution. Manufacturability is of utmost importance. The coatings will need to be applied using the current printing process, and be able to produce camouflage for large scale items (eg. tanks, Strykers, etc.). The team will test these materials and develop a new prototype of interest to Saab Barracuda.

Keegan Cerwinski, Jackie Halula, and KC Keesee smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Patagonia

Team Members

Keegan Cerwinski, Jackie Halula, KC Keesee

Project Description

Patagonia is bound by its mission to build the best products while causing no unnecessary environmental harm. We have recently learned that our fleece garments may be a significant source of microplastics. As the garments are laundered, many small fibers are liberated and rinsed into the sewer system. Water treatment facilities capture some of these microplastics, but a significant portion passes through the treatment plant and is discharged into waterways. We recently commissioned a study to begin quantifying the amount of microplastics that are shed from our finished garments, but we lack a test method that could quantify this phenomenon during material development. In light of rising concerns regarding microplastics and fleece, this design team will design a new test method that Patagonia can use during the material development process to quantify microfiber release. The test method should be transferable to the several hundred new fabrics each year that Patagonia’s Material Innovation and Development team develops.

Claire Chambers, Abby Arldt, and Xuwen Zhao smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Hanesbrands Inc.

Team Members

Claire Chambers, Abby Arldt, Xuwen Zhao

Project Description

HBI is seeking to create an innovative tee shirt using the SHIMA SEIKI knitting machines. The student team will create a whole garment tee that is “zoned” with different high‐performance yarns. The garment will be benchmarked to existing product lines available on market and identify opportunities for the advantageous use of the SHIMA SEIKI knitting process. The process will be evaluated for its ability for mass production.

Charlie Twitty, Joe Engright, and Nigel Carlton smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

INVISTA

Team Members

Charlie Twitty, Joe Engright, Nigel Carlton

Project Description

INVISTA transforms daily life through its innovations in the nylon, spandex, polyester and specialty materials industries. You may find INVISTA’s products in your clothing, carpets, cars and computers—just to name a few. In the outerwear, swimwear and even intimate apparel markets one can find multiple examples of commercial garments that have padding materials incorporated in the final product. While existing concepts offer the consumer benefits, they still do not fully meet consumer expectations. These unmet needs create both a challenge and an opportunity for a new materials design solution. The aim of this design project is to develop a novel materials design solution for padding that can be physically shaped into a desired form (e.g .to fit as a bra cup or as a lining on the sleeve of a jacket). Two focus areas are of interest; 1) high loft batting structures and/or blown‐in fiber fill products, and 2) PU foams made by cutting or thermal setting into a desired shape.

Colden Beert, Julia Kempf, and Ceante Hudson smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Mustang Survival ULC

Team Members

Colden Beert, Julia Kempf, Ceante Hudson

Project Description

Mustang Survival has been designing and manufacturing lifesaving solutions for more than 45 years. Through constant innovation and application of new technologies, Mustang Survival is the leading supplier of quality flotation and personal protective equipment to the most demanding maritime and aviation customers including the Coast Guard, Law Enforcement, Water Rescue Teams, Fighter Pilots, Commercial Mariners and Recreational boaters. When intact, latex wrist seals are very good at preventing water ingress at the wrist into a dry suit. However, the greatest weakness of latex seals is how they can propagate a tear, often turning a small tear into a catastrophic failure of the entire wrist seal and drysuit. The goal of this design team is to create a wrist seal that does not propagate a tear once torn. The design will accomplish a water tight wrist seal that inhibits the propagation of a tear and be able to bond or adhere to the drysuit material.

Colden Beert, Julia Kempf, and Ceante Hudson smiling for the camera outside in front of a stairwell

Sponsor

Arthrex

Team Members

Colden Beert, Julia Kempf, Ceante Hudson

Project Description

In order to expedite the time it takes to bring a new product from design to market and enable surgeons to treat their patients better it is desirable to have a dynamic modeling solution for maximizing the suture braid. By thoroughly understanding the effect that process inputs have on the suture properties we can maximize the effectiveness of suture design changes. Medical device manufacturing is often given a challenge from the design team to meet a specific product requirement due to regulatory constraints. These constraints could be in the form of knot pull, straight pull, diameter or even marketing. In order to meet the needs of Arthrex in a time to market fashion, a process needs to be evaluated and optimized that will provide a better understanding of the influence of the process inputs on the outputs of the braiding process. Students will be expected to investigate and determine the significance of variables to establish tighter tolerance control over braid constructs produced using UHMWPE material.

Erin Roberts, Nick Marcellino, and Neha Milind smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Medline

Team Members

Erin Roberts, Nick Marcellino, Neha Milind

Project Description

Medline is the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare supplies in the United States. The US market size for disposable medical supplies is $40.3 billion. Today, nearly every patient in a hospital is lying on top of an underpad. These underpads signify a loss of independence and can be a source of emotional trauma in addition to the health factors that put a patient in the hospital in the first place. Ideally these underpads should be changed when they are wet, to protect the skin from painful breakdown. Some facilities however choose heavy “soak” levels to try and utilize the pad to its capacity before changing to a fresh underpad. Medline would like to incorporate rapid test technology into underpads with the ability to deliver some diagnostic results, above and beyond the functional need of absorption. The goal for this design team is to create visible indicator to wetness (to protect the patient’s skin from blisters and other trauma) and/or the presence of particular bacteria while still maintaining ability to industrially launder the product.

Alan Capps, Nortee Louder, and Sam Hankins smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Welspun USA, Inc.

Team Members

Alan Capps, Nortee Louder, Sam Hankins

Project Description

As a US$ 3 billion company, Welspun Group is one of India’s fastest growing conglomerates. As a globally recognised leader in the fields of Line Pipes and Home Textiles, Welspun Group has captured a strong foothold in more than 50 Countries, it employs over 24,000 people and has as many as 100,000+ shareholders. Pre‐consumer cotton waste is an economic and financial concern. The objective of this project team is to determine routes to reduce and/or re‐use cotton waste generated in the manufacturing process. Specific goals will be to utilize cotton waste in different products/applications, (woven or nonwoven). The team will need to understand performance goals for these applications and perform testing to determine product efficacy in these markets.

Matt Reardon, Josh Gowin, and Drew Boyd smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Monterey Mills

Team Members

Matt Reardon, Josh Gowin, Drew Boyd

Project Description

Monterey Mills’ main products include: knitted pile fabric used for paint rollers, wool and wool blended buffing pads, hospital pads, wash mitts and wash mitt fabric, apparel, toy, the Denali Home Furnishing line, and fabric manufactured for industrial applications. High performance athletic wear continues to a market with explosive growth utilizing new technologies. The design team will focus on new technologies utilizing shape memory polymers in a sliver knit construction for lining or insulation. The goal is a fabric that reacts to changes in temperature and/ or humidity to help regulate body temperature. The design team will partner with Glenoit Fabrics (manufacturing) and Lululemon (performance evaluation of the fabric).

Kristen Lange, Jordan Huffer, and Josh Walker smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Welspun USA, Inc.

Team Members

Kristen Lange, Jordan Huffer, Josh Walker

Project Description

As a US$ 3 billion company, Welspun Group is one of India’s fastest growing conglomerates. As a globally recognised leader in the fields of Line Pipes and Home Textiles, Welspun Group has captured a strong foothold in more than 50 Countries, it employs over 24,000 people and has as many as 100,000+ shareholders. Absorbency is the essential requirement of the towel and by increasing the absorbency Welspun can reduce the weight of the towel (by using less cotton) but absorb/hold same amount of water. The objective of this project team is to increase the towel absorbency by 150%. The team will be responsible for evaluating the absorbency properties and the other critical properties to verify that it can be utilized in the towel market.

Chris Sandidge, Matt Sutton, and Katy Lund smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Adidas

Team Members

Chris Sandidge, Matt Sutton, Katy Lund

Project Description

Footwear look and feel is key to exciting our consumers. Hand feel plays an important role in perceived value and comfort in footwear uppers. The primary objective for this design team is to create knitted footwear uppers from synthetic fibers with great hand feel. The team will be responsible for understanding texturizing techniques and other methods of changing the hand feel of yarns; working with our supply chain partners and using NC State facilities, create yarns and flat knitted textiles; and working with adidas and our yarn supply partners in the USA to help us better specify yarns for our USA SpeedFactory. In addition, the team will be responsible for the development of subjective and objective measurement methods for haptics of yarns and textiles.

Eric Kaylor, Monique Floyd, and Teddy Meyers smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

VF Corp. ‐ Global Innovation Center for The North Face, Vans, Timberland

Team Members

Eric Kaylor, Monique Floyd, Teddy Meyers

Project Description

In footwear applications, comfort is one of the most sought after attributes for the consumer. One of the difficulties in providing consistent comfort lies in the differentiating external environments we encounter and their impact on the internal environments that exist within the footwear products that we use every day. The overall objective of this project is to develop a novel material that provides adaptive performance applicable to footwear designs. The design team will focus on solutions that solve for the internal environment of the wearer’s product via active thermoregulation as well as the ever‐changing external environments the wearer experiences which will provide the wearer integrated comfort in any season.

Mitchell Gwynn, Jenny Renner, and Adam Ombonga smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Hanesbrands Inc.

Team Members

Mitchell Gwynn, Jenny Renner, Adam Ombonga

Project Descriptin

HBI would like to create an innovative apparel print technique in which the print becomes bolder and brighter the more it is washed. The print innovation may enhance the user experience because each wearer’s tee is slight different or unique, depending on number of washes. The team will be challenged with the task to enhance color as a function of wash cycles. The design should be appealing to the consumer and have a favorable hand. In addition, the concept should adapt well into the current manufacturing processes of the Hanesband product.

Brooke Anderson, Paolo Fenu, and Leah Marr smiling for the camera outside

Sponsor

Hanesbrands Inc.

Team Members

Brooke Anderson, Paolo Fenu, Leah Marr

Project Description

Hanesbrand is seeking innovative ways to incorporate wellness technologies into its current product offering. A number of directions exist to improve health and wellness by incorporating medicine, vitamins, nutrients, massage into textiles or apparel. This student team will develop an innovative approach toward the fabrication of a wellness garment. The final product should be able to be mass produced and machine washable. The team will identify a market and determine the needs of that market to make the product appealing.