“The research I do in the Wearable Technology Lab paved the way to an internship with NASA, where I worked on improving the liquid cooling and ventilation garment—a form-fitting body suit with tubing that’s served as the base layer of the spacesuit since the beginning. Spacesuits have changed over the years, but because they’re essentially miniaturized spacecrafts that keep astronauts alive, major changes are difficult. New versions will increase range of motion and accommodate a broader range of body sizes.” 

—Crystal Compton, ’14 B.S., ’16 M.S., doctoral student at the U’s College of Design. She received the Phi Upsilon Omicron Scholarship and the college’s Legacy Scholarship as an undergraduate.