Feature Story

Textile Engineering/Polymer and Fiber Engineering

Everything is made from something. Polymer and fiber engineers create and provide materials from polymers and fibers. Polymers are, as the name suggests, “many mers,” where the mer, or repeating unit are frequently based on carbon. The body is composed of natural polymers, such as DNA, where the mers are the four nucleic acids, G,C,A,T. Proteins are made of repeating amino acid units, and cellulose and other sugars, repeating glucose units. Our modern society is founded on synthetic polymers, plastics, such as polycarbonates for DVD's. Polymeric materials have a wide range of applications in aerospace, defense, chemistry, electronics, automobiles, medicine, energy, space, recreation, and more. In fact, in 1978, plastics replaced steel as the number one material in terms of annual production in volume. The question is, who studies and develops these remarkable materials? Well, chemists, biologists, and physicists, but there is one discipline in particular that focuses on them: polymer and fiber engineering.

Polymer and fiber engineering incorporates different areas of engineering with a solid foundation in science and math. Those who wish to work on the molecular level, focusing on the chemistry and properties of polymeric materials and the manufacturing of polymer-based products, choose the polymer track. Students who wish to design, research, develop, and implement systems for fiber conversion into end products choose the fiber track. Examples include advanced fibers for aerospace applications, engineering polymers for residential and municipal infrastructure and construction, electronic systems encapsulates, pharmaceutical formulations, medical safety products, high-tech coatings and sealants, prosthetic devices, athletic products, new materials for contact lenses, new plastics from bio-derived sources, and the list goes on and on. It is possible to engineer fibers that will stop a bullet, will not burn, are stronger by weight than steel, and even replicate body parts.

Polymer and fiber engineers create and provide materials from polymers and fibers, meeting the engineering challenges of making these products work in various end applications. For example, carbon nanotubes are fibers that have unique properties that make them incredibly strong and light. How could they be harnessed to build an elevator strong enough to transport humans into outer space? Spider silk is a remarkable natural polymer that can stretch many times further than our synthetic polymers without breaking. How could we use this knowledge to make lighter weight ballistic materials that will stop all bullets or create cables for bridges that can withstand earthquakes?

Researchers in the area of polymer and fiber engineering use many different techniques from X-rays and MRI technology to mechanical testing to characterize the new materials that they generate. Examples include:

• Design of a quantum computer to enable faster/smaller computers in the future
• Wearable motherboard to allow the design of sleep suits for babies to wear that will monitor them while they sleep. These special suits will help decrease the occurrence of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) by alerting the parents that the baby needs attention.
• Design of plastics with micro-sized patterns on them to help make solar cells that are more efficient and less expensive than those currently available. The technology can also be used to design the "lab on a chip" devices that are used to test biological samples.
• Nano-composites: This research is on composites made with nano-sized reinforcing agents that are much stronger than the composites in use today. Some of these nano-composites will be used in building body parts that are stronger and will last longer than those available.
• Nano-composite fibers: This research at the university level is aimed at understanding how the polymer fibers behave after repeated use. Applications such as airliner tires, where the tires are subjected to repeated loading, will be affected by the research. The student uses a testing device that is a modified BOSE speaker to load and unload the fiber sample very quickly to simulate the loading that the fiber might see in the airliner tire. The understanding of damage caused by the loading will help to design better fibers for all types of applications, from fiber reinforced body parts to buildings.
• Fire proof fabrics for firemen, racecar drivers, industrial workers, and such are being developed by Ten Cate Nicolon. The company also makes geotubes, which are used to build islands in the ocean or make barriers. Sand and seawater are pumped into them; the water can get out, but the sand cannot.
• New textiles: Miliken, Inc. is working on fabrics that keep soldiers and youngsters warm, astronauts safe, and major league baseball players comfortable. Its carpets and table linens are found in many of the world's finest hotels and restaurants around the world. Other fabrics are found in cars, sailboats, tennis balls, and printer ribbons. Chemicals developed by the company give automobile dashboards their durability.

Who are some of the companies that might hire a polymer and fiber engineer? Here are some possibilities: Dow Chemical, General Motors, DuPont, General Electric, Michelin, Eastman Kodak, Honeywell, IBM, Exxon Mobil, Solvay Advanced Polymers, Mohawk, Shaw, Rockwell Automotives—just to name a few. Since polymers and fibers are everywhere, graduates from this program can go virtually anywhere, too. They are also well prepared to enter law or medical schools.

There are only a handful of colleges in the United States that offer degrees in Polymer and Fiber Engineering or Textile Engineering—including Georgia Tech, Auburn, Clemson, University of Akron, University of Massachusetts, North Carolina State University, and Southern Mississippi—so graduates are in great demand. They're receiving multiple job opportunities with highly competitive starting salaries. More importantly, however, they're creating the materials to make better products today and more sophisticated products for tomorrow. As society becomes more technologically advanced, these materials will also allow for more exciting outcomes, outcomes that will benefit us all.

Contributed by Dr. Mary Lynn Realff, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Affairs, School of Polymer, Textile & Fiber Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology