Great Women in History
This week’s great woman in history is:
Stephanie Kwolek - born July 31, 1923
She is the inventor of the revolutionary fiber we know today as Kevlar. USA Today recently did a story celebrating the inventor’s remarkable discovery:
Kwolek is the scientist behind the discovery of the strong, lightweight fiber known as Kevlar. More than 3,000 law enforcement officers have survived potentially fatal or disabling injuries because of the golden-colored fiber that is spun into sheets used in bulletproof vests, helmets and shields, said Stephanie Jacobson, spokeswoman for DuPont Co. in Wilmington.
In the mid-1960s, Kwolek was a researcher at DuPont, where her work led her to a discovery that became the foundation for Kevlar.
“She’s physically a small woman, which is kind of funny considering the impact she’s had,” said Ed Rodley, exhibit developer of the Museum of Science, Boston, which is mounting a fall exhibit on innovative people in engineering, which will include Kwolek.
Pound for pound, Kevlar fiber is five times stronger than steel, Jacobson said. In addition to law enforcement officers, Kwolek’s work has spared the lives of countless soldiers, too. Nearly every U.S. combat servicemember has worn a helmet made with Kevlar since the 1991 Gulf War, Jacobson said.
Kwolek was a 42-year-old scientist in search of a super-strong fiber to reinforce radial tires at the company’s Experimental Station when she invented a thin, milky solution of rigid-chain polymers that flowed like water from her lab spatula.
“It wasn’t exactly a ‘eureka moment,’ ” she said, but she sensed she might be onto something. Most polymers have the viscosity of molasses. The physical test results were off the charts in terms of strength and stiffness, she recalled. Initially, Kwolek said, she was afraid to “tell management.” She tested and retested to make sure no mistakes had been made.
“I didn’t want to be embarrassed. When I did tell management, they didn’t fool around. They immediately assigned a whole group to work on different aspects,” she said.
Kwolek had little formal education by comparison with most of the scientists DuPont hires today. With a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Institute of Technology — now known as Carnegie Mellon University — she went to work for DuPont as a chemist in 1946.
There were few female scientists at DuPont when Kwolek joined the company.
“I was determined,” she said.
Kwolek is scrupulous about taking credit only for the initial discovery of the technology used in the development of Kevlar. She credits the team of scientists who worked on its development, particularly DuPont scientist Herbert Blades, who still lives in Hockessin, Del.
She has received numerous honors, including being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.
The Hall of Fame includes such names in American scientific history as Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers. The exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science will showcase seven engineering leaders through videotaped interviews, historical footage and displays of related artifacts.
Kwolek’s advice for young women interested in a science career is that they get a doctorate and have at least two majors — for example, chemistry and math. If she had it to do all over again, Kwolek said, she would get into biochemistry.
I love her advice and encouragement to young women about going into the science field. We can never have too many women in that field, or any field for that matter but she is a great example of why we need women in science and technology careers.
women, careers, science, Kevlar, police, military, bullet-proof, technology
