Stephanie Kwolek
Stephanie Kwolek was born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania in 1923. She received her bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1946. She went to work with DuPont where she worked in the textiles development division. She created a liquid polymer that when spun into fibers was extremely strong and durable. The fiber came to have the name Kevlar and is used for making bullet proof vests, cables, inflatable water craft and building materials. Kwolek patented Kevlar in 1971 and has also twenty-seven other patents to her name.
Cherokee Grandma Spider Steals the Sun
References:
Women Invent:Two Centuries of Discoveries That Have shaped Our World by Susan Casey (Chicago Review Press, 1997) p. 54.Patently Female by Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek (John Wiley, 2002) p.2,3, pp. 7-8.
Web Sites:
Stephanie Kwolek Inventor of KevlarStephanie Kwolek's Work With Polymers
Stephanie Kwolek Capitalizing on Mistakes
Biography
OTHER INNOVATIONS AND INVENTIONS
