THE SCHOOL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Under the provisions of the regulations for the degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

on Wednesday December 5th, 2018

12:00 PM
in MRDC 3515

will be held the

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL DEFENSE

for

Sungmee Park

"TEXTILES AS A META-WEARABLE: STUDIES ON TEXTILES AS AN INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE"

Committee Members:

Prof. Sundaresan Jayaraman, Advisor, MSE

Prof. Preet Singh, MSE

Prof. Suresh Sitaraman, ME

Prof. Naresh Thadhani, MSE

Prof. Donggang Yao, MSE

Abstract:

It is hard to place a price on human life. Unfortunately, casualties are associated with combat and sometimes are inevitable. The loss of even a single soldier in a war can alter the nation’s engagement strategy making it all the more important to save lives. The limited medical resources on the battlefield must be harnessed optimally to minimize casualties by identifying and attending to injured soldiers during the “Golden Hour.” Therefore, the value of any effort to minimize loss of human life is priceless.

The primary objective of the research has been to design and develop a garment (called a Sensate Liner) to detect the penetration of a projectile (e.g., bullets and shrapnel), monitor the soldier's vital signs, and transmit it in real-time to alert the medical triage unit near the battlefield. A QFD-type (Quality Function Deployment) analysis was carried out leading to the following key requirements for the Sensate Liner: Functionality, Usability in Combat, Wearability, Durability, Manufacturability, Maintainability, Connectability and Affordability. The requirements were translated into desired properties in the Sensate Liner, which in turn led to the design of the structure.

The presentation will cover the development of a full-fashioned weaving process to create, for the first time, a three-dimensional garment on a loom, the concept of “interconnections” in textile structures to route information through the yarns in the fabric, and the successful development of an interconnection technology to create a customizable, wearable, and comfortable wearable information infrastructure or Wearable Motherboard. The new paradigm spawned by the Wearable Motherboard provides an exciting opportunity that paves the way for the creation of a rich body of new knowledge through data analytics and illustrates the value of innovation and technology in enhancing the quality of life for humans.