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Meet our Team

Director

Genevieve Dion, Lab Director
Geneviève Dion, MID Director, Pennsylvania Fabric Discovery Center
Director, Center for Functional Fabrics
Professor of Design, Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
Professor (Courtesy), Materials Science and Engineering & Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, College of Engineering

Geneviève Dion directs the Center for Functional Fabrics and the Pennsylvania Fabric Discovery Center at Drexel University. She is a Professor of Design at Westphal College of Media Arts and Design and holds courtesy appointments at the College of Engineering in the Departments of Materials Science and Engineering and Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics. Dion leads transdisciplinary teams at the intersection of design, engineering, and science to create textile devices through advanced manufacturing - new materials, tools, fabrication processes and products. Her research has received funding from Industry, NSF, NIH, Keck Futures, AFFOA, NextFlex, ARM and the US Army ManTech Program. Dion has co-authored more than forty papers and conference proceedings. She also has been granted six patents and ten more are currently under review. Her design work is in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum and the DeYoung Museum. Dion obtained a B.A. in Industrial Design from San Francisco State University and a master's degree in the same subject from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Professor Genevieve Dion: Collaborations that Spark New Industries and Change Lives

PA FDC Staff

Patrick Doran Patrick Doran, MBA Director of Business Development
215.571.4072

Background & Interests: entrepreneurial non-profit management, community development finance, business strategy

Venus Ennis-Calloway Venus Ennis Calloway, MS Executive Assistant II
215-571-4498

Background & Interests: business administration, management (operations, finance, human resources), research project management support

Christina Kara Christina Kara Director of Operations & Research Compliance
215.571.4498

Background & Interests: grant-making and writing, proposal development, financial management and compliance

Robin Althouse Robin Althouse, MS Textile Fabrication Engineer

Background & Interests: weft knit innovation, e-textiles, yarn construction, product development

Chelsea Amanatides Chelsea Amanatides, PhD Senior Fabrication Engineer

Background & Interests: textile engineering, sustainability, transdisciplinary research, materials

David Brown David Brown Product Development Designer I

Background & Interests: product development, engineering design, medical device design

Gabriella Deblasio Gabriella Deblasio Textile Innovator II

Background & Interests: textile design, warp knitting and weaving, color science, materials science

Michael Feldmus Michael Feldmus, MBA Knit Engineer & Innovation Space Manager

Background & Interests: flat weft knitting, innovation space equipment upkeep and maintenance, former domestic knitting factory owner

Helga Gardner Helga Gardner Textile Innovator II

Background & Interests: industrial embroidery, apparel design, home-goods design, knitting

Maria Kim Maria Kim, MDes Communications Manager

Background & Interests: user experience design, graphic design, content strategy, branding & marketing

Crishana Manigan Crishana Manigan Research & Development Program Manager

Background & Interests: fashion design, project and program management in the arts, process development

Stephanie Minock Stephanie Minock Textile Innovator II

Background & Interests: knitting, pattern making, sewing, fashion design

Lauren Niu Lauren Niu, PhD Senior Research Scientist

Background & Interests: physics, geometry, topology

Palmer Purcell Palmer Purcell, MDes Product Development Designer I

Background & Interests: product development, 3D printing, CAD, fabrication, industrial design

Raven Rimerman Raven Rimerman Textile Modeling Technician

Background & Interests: mathematics & physics, especially as it applies to the modeling of predictive behavior of textiles

Lev Saunders Lev Saunders E-Textile Electrical Engineer I

Background & Interests: embedded engineering, prototype development, and machine learning

Richard Vallet Richard Vallett, PhD Senior Research Engineer

Background & Interests: robotics & control systems, mechanical engineering, embedded development, sensor development, machine design

Michael Weaker Michael Weaker Senior Product Development Designer

Background & Interests: R&D management, product development, engineering, industrial design, business

Graduate Students

Taylor Baugh Taylor Baugh PhD Student, Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics
BEng Aerospace Engineering, Astronautics and Space Technology, Kingston University London

Background & Interests: mechanical engineering, mechanics of materials, materials testing

Lingyi Bi Lingyi Bi PhD Candidate, Materials Science and Engineering, co-advised by Yury Gogotsi
MS, Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship, Brown University BS, Textile Engineering, Donghua University

Background & Interests: functional fiber, yarn and fabric development with incorporation of MXene

Rena Mathew Rena Mathew PhD Student, Biomedical Engineering BS, Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University

Background & Interests: mechanical engineering, foot and ankle biomechanics, computational design development

Undergraduate Co-Ops

Alexa Ortego Alexa Ortner Technology Manufacturing Assistant Co-op

product development, mechanical design, design ideation

Joel Hecht Joel Hecht Systems Integration Co-op

computer science, embedded development, knitting/fiber arts