Faculty “star” in media podcasts

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Elizabeth McCullough, professor in the Department of Apparel, Textiles and Interior Design, is the latest faculty member to star in a podcast produced by K-State’s Media Relations.

The video reports on McCullough’s efforts to standardize the temperature ratings on cold weather clothing.

If you have QuickTime installed on your computer, take a look at the podcast.

McCullough, co-director of the Institute for Environmental Research, said the goal is for all manufacturers to do the same testing so a consumer can compare one product to another. This would be particularly helpful to consumers who can’t try on the garment because they’re shopping online or from catalogs. McCullough’s work on insulation value and evaporation resistance of fabrics and garments is widely recognized.

Her work with sleeping bag manufacturers and efforts to standardize temperature ratings are outlined in the August issue of “Outdoor Business.” In the article called “The Cold Truth,” she points out the factors affecting a person’s thermal comfort in a sleeping bag, methods used for testing temperature ratings, weaknesses with some testing methods and the problems with lack of standardization.

McCullough measures the thermal insulation value (clo) of a sleeping bag using an electrically heated mannequin in thermal equilibrium with its surroundings.

Other podcasts from the College of Human Ecology are:

• Victorian-era dress in K-State’s collection has special story  from Marla Day, curator of the Historic Costume and Textile Museum;
• K-State’s costume and textile museum preserves past, inspires students from Day;
• Textiles from K-State collection on display at the Manhattan Arts Center from Day;
• How trauma can affect family relationships from Briana Nelson Goff, associate dean and professor in FSHS; and
• Counseling communities through a crisis from Goff.

The university’s directory of podcasts can be found on Media Relations’ K-State Podcasts page.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008 and is filed under Dean's Blog.