Spectrum

the heat Feeling and faculty member Patrick Kinnicutt adjust the sensory equipment on the thermal manikin the university Computer science graduate student Jared Moore, left, received through a National Science Foundation grant. Thermal manikin sweats to enhance research A $350,000 National Science Foundation grant is helping CMU to solidify its position as an apparel research and design authority. To investigate heat and moisture transfer from the human torso through next-to-skin apparel, CMU has acquired a 46-zone Newton-brand sweating thermal manikin system with custom zones designed for the torso area. Along with the thermal manikin, CMU secured a sweating-guarded hotplate as well as a wireless physiological monitoring and biofeedback system. "The hotplate and manikin, along with our walk-in environmental chamber, will enable us to perform repeatable, well-controlled tests examining the heat and moisture flux through the apparel, which we will then be able to correlate with human subject testing, " says Patrick Kinnicutt, the geology and computer science faculty member who is analyzing and processing the data. "The ultimate goal is to develop prototype next-to-skin apparel that optimizes heat and moisture management at minimal cost." This new equipment will incorporate and advance interdisciplinary research CMU already has completed. Kinnicutt, along with mechanical engineering faculty member Terence Lerch and faculty from the apparel merchandising and design department, used the Human Environmental Lab's environmental chamber, body scanner and thermal camera to examine the heat flux through the human torso of more than 800 human subjects in different situations. Their team also used this equipment to help test the thermal and moisture performance of new National Hockey League and National Football League uniforms. The existing database of more than 800 subjects will assist in testing apparel fabrics on the thermal manikin before doing final testing on additional human subjects. 'The ultimate goal is to develop prototype next-to-skin apparel that optimizes heat and moisture management at minimal cost.' – Patrick Kinnicutt, geology and computer science faculty member "To do human subject research is expensive and time-consuming," Kinnicutt says. "This new equipment will help tremendously." With the newly acquired equipment, CMU researchers will further advance apparel development throughout the clothing and garment industries. "CMU's research has the potential to impact millions of people by enabling them to potentially obtain next-to- skin functional apparel at lower cost without sacrificing performance, " Kinnicutt says. Research with the thermal manikin is a three-year project, with the first year focusing on analyzing the existing database to model thermal flux in the human torso, the second year testing fabric prototypes and the third year testing human subjects to validate the results. • 3

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