Mobility is a key determinant of quality of life throughout the human lifespan, ranging from early childhood development and learning to healthy physical activity and peak sports performance to maintaining independence into advanced age. Building on the University of Delaware’s national prominence in rehabilitation, materials science, physical therapy, and fashion and apparel studies, we seek to establish a core group of researchers and partners to create innovative functional garments and related materials to enhance mobility. This expertise, coupled with the development of the STAR campus, improvements in athletics facilities, and establishment of maker spaces and additive manufacturing capabilities, points to enormous opportunities for UD.

Our mission:

• Establish a core group of researchers and partners to create innovative functional garments and materials
• Employ state-of-the-art methods of materials/fabrics processing, fabrication, functionalization and testing, with applications ranging from improving mobility, facilitating recovery and improving/monitoring performance
• Engage a broad community of participants among the academic units at UD, clinical partners, and Athletics