08/06/2026
By Marley O'Neil

The Francis College of Engineering's Department of Mechanical Engineering invites you to attend Ihsan Uluturk's doctoral dissertation proposal defense.

Dissertation proposal title: "Single-Step Knitting of Electroactive Textiles for Actuation and Biosensing"

  • Date: Monday, Aug. 17, 2026
  • Time: Noon – 2 p.m.
  • Location: Room 212, Fabric Discovery Center, 110 Canal Street, Lowell, MA

Committee

  • Advisor: Scott E. Stapleton, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UMass Lowell
  • Richard Nuckols, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UMass Lowell
  • Christopher Hansen, Professor, College of Engineering, Temple University
  • Christopher Pastore, Professor, Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, Thomas Jefferson University

Abstract

Electroactive knitted textiles represent an emerging class of materials that combine the softness and form factor of fabrics with the functional responsiveness of active electronic systems. Their ability to actuate, sense, and interface with biological systems makes them ideal for next-generation soft robotics, rehabilitation devices, and wearable health monitors. However, most electroactive textiles are still fabricated at the laboratory scale, relying on post-processing or manual assembly methods that limit scalability, repeatability, and design complexity. This proposal outlines an in-line manufacturing framework for electroactive knits that uses computerized knitting as a single-step platform to integrate actuation and sensing in one fabric. The first study demonstrated a scalable production route for twisted silver-plated nylon yarn actuators knitted directly into fabrics, achieving a work capacity of 476 J kg⁻¹ and a maximum blocking force of 6 N. The second study extended the same single-step approach from actuation to sensing: in kirigami textile electrodes, the slits and the raised relief are formed by deactivating selected needles during knitting, so no cutting step is required. Across four knit configurations, the two geometric features proved co-dependent rather than additive. Slits on a flat structure gave the noisiest electrical baseline and the same slits on 3D-raised relief the quietest, a thirtyfold spread. The raised relief alone reduced benchtop contact resistance by up to 63% at 20 mmHg. All configurations remained electrically stable to approximately 30% strain, roughly three times the largest circumferential strain measured during biceps contraction, and under high-motion conditions the optimized Kirigami-Raised electrode reached a signal-to-noise ratio of 28.85 dB, exceeding the Ag/AgCl clinical standard. Because the openings are knitted in rather than cut, the architecture is produced continuously during fabric formation and requires no post-processing, removing the main barrier to manufacturing kirigami electrodes at scale. Building on these two completed studies, the proposed third study will develop a systematic garment sizing methodology that treats kirigami slit length as an explicit design variable and translates benchtop measurements into per-wearer knitting-machine parameters. Individually sized garments will be produced for a cohort of eight participants and validated against interface-pressure and signal-quality targets. Across the three studies, the dissertation will establish that actuation and biopotential sensing can be programmed as knit parameters on a single machine rather than added to a finished fabric by post-processing, providing the process foundation for garments that both assist movement and monitor the muscles producing it.