Building a better space suit

Oct 4, 2024

Michelle Yatvitskiy, a recent graduate of the fashion and apparel studies master’s program (center), holds a strip of a new fabric for the outer layer of space suits that was the result of a collaboration between the fashion and chemical engineering departments and a company founded by Blue Hen alumni. Yatvitskiy is accompanied by Huantian Cao, chair of the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies (left), and chemical engineering professor Norm Wagner (right).

A collaboration between professor Norm Wagner in COE, Huantian Cao in Fashion, fashion graduate student Michelle Yatviskiy, and STF Technologies, run by UD alum rich Dombrowski has resulted in a new fabric that could be used for the outer layer of space suits used in lunar missions. The project started in 2022 and the fabric was finalized this year.

Interdisciplinary collaboration leads to innovative new fabric