CAREER: Investigating Novel Tools and Collaborative Programs for Smart Textiles Innovation at the Intersection of Engineering and Craft

从衣服到毯子再到室内装潢，我们被纺织品包围着。智能纺织品提供了改变工作和休闲体验和活动的潜力。在纱线层面集成智能（导电、传感、驱动）和功能性（环境响应）材料，有望将纺织品转化为包括医学在内的一系列工作环境中的显示表面、发电系统和传感器网络。一个问题是，目前的研究使用的是最基本、最古老的拼接方式来进行整合。这项研究将把工匠和工程师聚集在一起，共同发明未来的工具和程序。新颖的纱线级集成将利用9000年来纺织结构的创新，发现结构和功能耦合的全新方法。通过将合作作为一种社会技术实践进行调查，本研究将创造：(1)关于参与式设计方法如何适用于支持智能纺织品创新的可推广的发现；(2)开源工具，使最先进的纺织品设计工作流程工具更广泛地提供给研究人员和公众；(3)通过将研究与大学教学、艺术家驻留和多代设计研讨会的新颖整合来扩大STEM参与的新颖计划。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

From clothing to blankets to upholstery, we are surrounded by textiles. Smart textiles offer the potential to transform work and leisure experiences and activities. Integrating smart (conductive, sensing, actuating) and functional (environmentally responsive) materials—at the yarn-level—is expected to transform textiles into display surfaces, power generation systems, and sensor networks in a range of work contexts, including medicine. A problem is that current research uses the most basic, oldest form of stitching for integration. This research will bring craftspeople and engineers together to invent the future of tools and programs. Novel yarn-level integration will leverage 9000 years of innovation in textile structures to discover radical new methods for coupling structure and function. By investigating collaboration as a socio-technical practice, this research will create: (1) generalizable findings about how participatory design methods can be adapted to support smart textiles innovation; (2) open-source tools that make state-of-the-art textile design workflows tools available to researchers and the public more broadly; and (3) novel programs for broadening participation in STEM through novel integration of research with university teaching, artist residencies, and multi-generational design workshops.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.