NASA Treadmill Harness for the International Space Station
Space can be very difficult on the body. On earth we use gravity to maintain our bones and muscles. The astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) don't have that luxury and must spend hours a day exercising to be able to return to earth and still do simple tasks such as stand unassisted. While working at Terrazign I helped design and build the harness that holds astronauts to the treadmill on the ISS. I built over 30 harnesses that were tailored to individual astronauts. The challenge of this product was to make a harness that could apply the force of one's body weight for extended periods of running, in a comfortable manner. Imagine running for an hour in a 185 pound backpack. Additionally, anything that goes onboard the space station must meet strict fire retardant standards, creating an additional challenge of combining comfort and kevlar.
NASA Fatigue Simulation Testing Apparatus
As part of exploring the possibility of going to Mars it is essential to understand what humans will be capable of doing on the Martian surface after extended time in Zero Gravity. Here, the muscle loss is simulated by adding plate weights evenly across the human body, by as much as 70% of the test subject’s body weight. This testing apparatus is designed to be warn by many different sized people ranging from the 5th percentile to the 95th and able to comfortably carry from 15 to 200lbs. This huge range of adjustability was the heart of the challenge for this project.
US Paralympic Rugby Team -Abdominal Support Harness
In partnership with the University of Oregon’s Adaptive Product Design Studio and Terrazign I created a support harness worn by a number of US wheelchair rugby players. Depending on the location of the injury, lower limb paralysis is often accompanied by paralysis of some or all of the abdominal muscles used to hold the upper body vertical. This can lead to compression of the lungs resulting in a reduction of cardiovascular output of an athlete. This harness created support for the shoulders such that the athlete was able to easily sit upright, maximizing lung capacity and duration of play.
Team USA Olympic Jackets by Ralph Lauren x Skyscrape
As the Director of Manufacturing Innovation at Skyscrape I oversaw the implementation of Skyscrape’s innovative temperature responsive material in Ralph Lauren’s Team USA Opening Ceremony garments for the ‘22 Beijing Winter Olympics. I was in charge of overseeing manufacturing, technical design, project management, and collaboration management with the team from RL. Read more about the project in the New York Times and the Ralph Lauren press release.
Vans: On Demand Customization
For this project I was tasked with creating a process to apply graphics to shoes while the customer waits. Working with internal resources and outside engineering firms I developed lasts, fixtures, and product that could create repeatable, quality product while surviving the high temperature and pressure that was required to create the print. Throughout the development process I did continuous process engineering and created training material and manuals for each step. For more information please check out the video on Fast Company.
Skyscrape - Thermally Responsive Textiles
As the Director of Manufacturing Innovation I took a lab scale prototype of a thermally responsive textile and developed the supply chain and manufacturing processes necessary to make full width, functional, wholesale yardage of a fabric capable of changing its thickness in response to ambient temperatures. This material was then used in a variety of garments to create a novel way to maintain comfort. For more information check out the Skyscrape website.
Keen - On Demand 3D Knit Footwear
Designing and developing digital knit uppers that, in combination with Keen’s US based injection molding facility, could create an end to end on-demand shoe. I was responsible for project management, supply chain development, footwear design, knitwear patterning, and digital file information workflow.
Smith and Bybee
Co-designed and manufactured clothing for a boutique menswear line called Smith and Bybee.