Meet Our Team

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

gd63@drexel.edu

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

Robin Althouse, MS Textile Fabrication Engineer

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

Chelsea Amanatides, PhD Senior Research Engineer

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

David Brown Product Development Designer I

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

Gabriella Deblasio Textile Innovator II

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

Patrick Doran, MBA Director of Business Development

215.571.4072 pwd37@drexel.edu

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

Venus Ennis Calloway, MS Executive Assistant II

215-571-4498 vme22@drexel.edu

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

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 Textile Innovator II

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

Christina Kara Director of Operations & Compliance

215.571.4498 cdk55@drexel.edu

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

Maria Kim, MDes Communications Manager

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

Crishana Manigan Research & Development Program Manager

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

Stephanie Minock Textile Innovator II

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

Lauren Niu, PhD Senior Research Scientist

Background & Interests: physics, geometry, topology

Palmer Purcell, MDes Senior Fabrication Engineer

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

Raven Rimerman Textile Modeling Technician

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

Lev Saunders E-Textile Electrical Engineer I

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

Richard Vallett, PhD Senior Research Engineer

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

Michael Weaker Senior Fabrication Engineer

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

Graduate Students

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

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

Student Alumni

Amani Alexander Entrepreneurship & Retail, Drexel University

Chelsea Amanatides, PhD National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Recipient
PhD, Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University BS, Sustainable Materials & Design, Drexel University

Luke Coleman Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University

Emma Dietz Product Design, Drexel University

Grandin Hammell Electrical Engineering Technology, Drexel University

Kristy Jost Senior Product Development Engineer at 3M Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow PhD, Materials Engineering, Drexel University BS, Fashion Design, Drexel University

Carly Kandler Design & Merchandising (minor in International Economics)

Michael Koerner DMD, student at Kornberg School of Dentistry, Temple University MS, Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University BS, Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University

Ariana Levitt National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow PhD Candidate, Materials Science and Engineering, co-advised by Yury Gogotsi BS, Fiber Science, Cornell University

Alexander Morris Business & Engineering Student, Drexel University

Camren Randleman Fashion Design, Drexel University

Amy Stoltzfus Fashion Design (minor in Fine Arts), Drexel University

Shivansh Suhane Computer Science, Drexel University

Keith Taylor Mechanical Engineering (minor in Product Design), Drexel University

Simge Uzun PhD, Materials Science and Engineering MS, Fiber & Polymer Science, Cornell University BS, Textile Engineering, Istanbul Technical University

Director

PA FDC Staff

Graduate Students

Student Alumni