Staff Profile: Peter Lord, Materials Engineer

What does it mean to be a “Materials Engineer”? 

Materials Engineering has to do with the makeup, properties, characteristics, of a whole range of different materials – metal, ceramics, plastic, textiles, etc. My work is focused in the area of textiles.

How did you become interested in textiles?

When I was young I spent a lot of time outdoors and was an Eagle Scout, so I became really interested in outdoor gear – an interest that grew when I worked at Eastern Mountain Sports. I was a gear hound, always curious about both how the gear was made, and what it was made of.

When it was time to go to college I found a great program at UMASS Dartmouth in Materials Technology that included a specialization in textiles.  My plan was basically to make really cool outdoor gear that I could use when I was hiking and camping.

Which you ended up doing, right?

Yes, I was fortunate to get a job for Polar Tec, so the stuff I worked on during the week was stuff I took out with me on the weekends!

What did you do for Polar Tec?

I was a Project Manager for consumer weather protection clothing, and also for the U.S. Military Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS). ECWCS involved 7 levels of clothing - from base layers to heavy duty outer layers. Polar Tec had a contract for 3 of those levels and also sold material to manufacturers working in some of the other levels.

Was it the military work that brought you to Cocoon?

Yes. Cocoon had just developed a breakthrough new textile for military protective covers and needed someone to manage final development and execution. 

What does your work at Cocoon involve?

I work along two paths. One path is ongoing innovation of our existing products – identifying, developing, and testing enhancements and improvements. The other path is new projects where we’re developing ideas from the ground up.

Innovation tends to include a lot of trial and error – a lot of things require trial after trial before they work. How do you develop the necessary patience and persistence?

It’s funny… if something comes too easily it’s not as satisfying as solving something more challenging. So, I’ve come to understand, and even embrace, that those challenges are part of what makes the work satisfying. That’s not to say there aren’t moments of discouragement, but with experience you understand that’s part of the process. You also learn to feed off small wins – even the smallest step forward is still a step forward.

What’s something very few people know, or think about, when it comes to textiles?

I think few people consider how pervasive textiles are. Just about every minute of every day you’re in contact with textiles – from clothes to sheets to towels to furniture. They are a huge part of our lives but not something most people think about very much. I find that quite interesting.

How has technology changed textiles over the last 10 or so years?

That’s a good question. I’m not sure there’s necessarily been a big jump at any point over that period. Certainly we’ve seen advances but they’ve largely been cumulative refinements of materials first developed around WWII. That was the really big inflection point with the development of man-made fibers such as nylon, polyester, spandex, etc. 

What we have now are much more advanced forms of those synthetic polymer fibers, but the 1940s and 50s were when the big paradigm shift occurred. 

Do you see anything on the horizon that you think will have a major impact on textiles?

I’ll be interested to see how “smart clothing” develops. We’ve been talking about it for more than ten years, but haven’t really seen it become as prevalent as expected.

Why do you think that is?

Some of it is the difficulty of making something commercially viable. A prototype is one thing, but something that can withstand regular use, multiple washings, etc., is much more difficult. Also, a lot of the information we were looking for from smart clothing is coming from other devices such as smart watches.

Anything else?

Yes, I’m also curious to see how 3D knitting develops. We’ve seen it utilized most notably in shoes, but it’s full of possibility. Cocoon has done some testing and prototyping with 3D knitting and have gotten glimpses of how it could play a role in the advancement of technical textiles.