玛吉Zee

纺织品研究为破坏明矾创造了巨大的机会

玛吉Zee是365滚球官网的校友. 她在伊利诺伊大学获得了第二个学士学位 服装、纺织品和设计 并于2019年毕业，获得理学硕士学位 家庭与消费者科学 in 2023. Maggie has made incredible contributions with her research concerning hops fibers as textile materials. She currently works for 科多帕希火山, an outdoor apparel company, as an assistant materials developer.

First getting a Bachelor of Science in geology at State University of New York at Potsdam in 2010, 麦琪最初在国家资源部门寻找户外工作, 以当地渔业和林业服务为职业. She soon realized that many of the positions available to her were seasonal when she was searching for a longer commitment.

She started working as a ski and snowboard instructor at the Brundage Mountain Ski Resort in McCall, 爱达荷州. 最终, 她受到自己工作的启发，决定留在户外行业, 但很快她就有了创立自己的滑雪服装品牌的想法.

“I thought that designing apparel and products for [skiing and snowboarding] would be the most fun and creative… option to stay within that realm,”她说。. “所以，这就是我决定回到学校攻读第二个学士学位的原因.”

“I wanted to help improve or change the way that apparel is for women so they're more comfortable in the outdoors,她分享道。.

Maggie said she thought about starting her own clothing line prior to college — but she wasn’t sure if she could make it a career. “我不知道该怎么开口. 然后我安排了一个会议 Lori Wahl她是这个项目的导师之一，她打开了这个项目的大门.”

当她进入学校后，她的兴趣随着她学到的东西而改变. 尽管她仍然热衷于有朝一日创办自己的服装品牌, 她的注意力更多地转向了纺织品.

“服装市场太饱和了. [It’s] kind of interesting to try and find some niche or help people solve a problem for something that they don't know they need yet,”她说。.

Maggie started her research journey at a Career Fair in Spring 2019 at the start of her undergraduate program. “当时我正在上纺织课，我在一个小贩面前停了下来，那是 亚基马酋长霍普斯 -他们培育不同的啤酒花品种. 他们问我, 作为一名纺织学生, 能够处理啤酒花收获球果后的所有副产品,她解释道. 这激发了她的研究，后来她的硕士课程.

据麦琪说, 当啤酒花被用来酿造啤酒时, 他们留下的副产品在纺织工业中几乎没有用处, 通常成为废物. Maggie’s research attempted to find if hops bines could be suitable as a natural fiber to reduce waste and reuse the byproducts for textiles.

“我和他们合作 自然资源学院她在解释开展研究的过程时说. “我之所以能够做很多研究，是因为他们有一个能够容纳我的实验室.”

即使是在本科生的研究和课堂上, Maggie是the Apparel的创始官员, 纺织+设计俱乐部. 她是俱乐部第一年的副主席, 让她成为现在的中心. 她的工作是提高学生的参与度，并举办研讨会, 最终在整个校园招募了成员，并在各种活动中安排了席位.

“工作量很大，但真的很有趣，也很有回报，”她说.

她参加了家庭消费者科学荣誉协会， 欧微米在美国，她还担任过副总裁和总裁. 在那里, she would coordinate monthly meetings and organize community service events all while managing the COVID-19 pandemic. “这真的很棘手. 我们在限制条件下尽了最大努力，”她说.

还有她从荣誉学会获得的奖学金, 玛吉共享, “我写了一堆拨款，这样我就能得到研究资金. 的 本科生研究办公室 资助了我第一年的研究项目，还有… 卓越基金 和 Magaret Ritchie家庭与消费者科学学院.”

她还在研究生项目中担任助教，这为她进一步的研究提供了资金, 纺织品教学课程, 编织, 表面设计, 手工和数字图案制作, 三维建模, 服装与缝纫施工. “I think being a TA kind of helped me better underst和 whole industry 有一点 more because I was the one having to teach it to students too,”她说。.

玛吉命名 阿曼德麦当劳他是可再生材料化学教授 Chelsey Lewallen她是一位纺织品教授，在她的整个过程中，她一直是主要的援助来源. 然而, Maggie had some difficulty narrowing down the research she started in her undergrad once she entered graduate school.

“When I was in undergrad it was… a lot of experimentation just to see what is possible with this fiber, 和n when I got to grad school it was way more in depth and I had to stick with one thing instead of being able to just branch off… like I was in my undergrad,”她说。.

研究的本质, 玛吉意识到, 这是具体的和必要的，以保持计划, 即使在整个过程中利益转移或扩大. “它耗尽了所有的创造力, 有一点, 因为我必须一直坚持一个计划,”她说。, “但我想这就是研究生研究的全部内容.”

“在户外行业或渔业和自然资源领域工作, 我总是在做别人的研究项目, and this was the first time I'd started my own research project and [got] to take my own creative direction,谈到这项研究对她个人的影响时，她说.

虽然她很兴奋能研究一个以前没人写过的话题, 麦琪对外面那点关于啤酒花的知识很不了解. She shared how “taking time to slow down and asking for help when [she] needed it” was one of the lessons she had to learn along the way.

Maggie said that she didn’t realize the impact her hops research would have until she was in it. “这种纤维在纺织工业中并不常用. 历史上，这个词以前被使用过，但现在没有. So, 我想弄清楚为什么会这样，如果我能做些什么来改变这一点,”她说。.

在她的研究中, Maggie put the hops bine fibers through paper presses and machines based on those used for hemp. 后者允许她将它们纺成纱线编织成纺织品. 最后, 她发现啤酒花茎非常结实耐用，而且可以, 事实上, 作为一种可行的纺织品，可用于织造和非织造. Her work points to new pathways of sustainability in the beer brewing industry as well as potential for new products in the apparel and textiles world.

玛吉的文学评论和实验技巧不仅有了提高, 但在她的研究完成之后, 她参加了许多会议和社交活动来促进她的学习. 的 农业与生命科学学院 写了一 article 在2020年播出的《365滚球官网》节目，能够接触到世界各地的人们. “在那里's been people that have reached out to me from South America that are having the same issue 和y saw my research… 的y've reached out to see how I can help them,”她说。.

2021年10月，麦琪还能够在英国皇家科学院的一次会议上展示她的发现 美国纺织化学家和染色师协会.

“他们制定了所有服装和染色的测试标准. Every industry leader uses them for fabric testing or quality testing, so it's kind of a big deal. 我提交了一份研究海报，准备在纺织发现峰会上展示, 而不是让我站在海报旁, they wanted me to present my research in front of everybody… I got to meet and network with a bunch of industry leaders, 其中一些我还在联系. 其中一个是伊利诺伊大学的校友。.

第二年春天，麦琪去了 功能性面料博览会 在俄勒冈州波特兰市，能够与不同材料的供应商建立联系.

当被问及在研究过程中教师或大学学生资源如何支持她时, 她说, “在那里's too many to name in this one because I feel like everybody was supporting me throughout my time!”

她表扬了 职业服务 尤其是招聘会, having spoken to a career advisor many times during her final semester for resume and cover letters. She also had the support of the instructors in her field for answering questions and discussing her findings.

麦琪说尽管她做了惊人的研究, she had trouble finding jobs after she graduated with her master’s because of the specificity of her field. “的 most challenging thing was trying to find the right classes every semester… But I did not stick to [my initial grad study plan] at all because I had no idea if the classes I was choosing were correct or not,”她说。. “就业服务中心的知识真的很渊博，在这个过程中给了我很多帮助.她还指出，她的研究生导师对她的旅程产生了影响.

“在我本科的最后一个学期, we took a portfolio class where we showcase all of our work and market ourselves so that when we do apply for jobs, 我们已经准备好了,”她说。. “我认为，职业服务中心对公司或行业的看法 实际上 hiring people and how they expect people to apply for jobs… is really important for students to know.”

麦琪给未来汪达尔人的建议是, “不断探索每一种可能性，尝试每一件事. 参与到你正在学习的东西中，多问问题.”

现在，她在 科多帕希火山 where she gathers materials for apparel from mills and works with factory representatives to ensure fabrics meet her company’s sustainability standards. 在那里，她还“[开发]修剪，[批准]实验室浸泡和[组织]材料库。.”

“Not only do I get to be a key player in the overall outcome of 科多帕希火山's product line by selecting initial materials based on the design briefs, 但我可以亲身体验如何根据手感来选择材料, 成本和性能影响最终产品的方向和美学,”她说。.

带着如此迷人的冒险进入纺织研究领域, Maggie’s story shows off the value of seeking out and pursuing opportunities to expand your knowledge while in school. 的 incredible resources available at U of I allowed Maggie to make an impact in her field of study and make great achievements, 对她自己和整个纺织界来说都是如此. 不过她打算先在这个行业积累更多的经验, 玛吉仍然计划在未来成立自己的户外服装公司. 我们一定会继续关注汪达尔的一系列成就!

维多利亚金斯默尔
就业服务市场实习生