Stephanie Kwolek, Kevlar inventor, dies at 90

Yahoo News/AP ^ | June 21, 2014 | Randall Chase

[Innovative]

Kwolek, who died Wednesday at 90, was a DuPont Co. chemist who in 1965 invented Kevlar, the lightweight, stronger-than-steel fiber used in bulletproof vests and other body armor around the world.

A pioneer as a woman in a heavily male field, Kwolek made the breakthrough while working on specialty fibers at a DuPont laboratory in Wilmington. At the time, DuPont was looking for strong, lightweight fibers that could replace steel in automobile tires and improve fuel economy.

[Innovative]

I didn't know this.

What a huge difference Kevlar made and is still making.

[Innovative]

“Rest in peace, Stephanie Kwolek. Thank you for inventing Kevlar and saving Soldiers’ lives,” the U.S. Army tweeted Friday evening.

[HiTech RedNeck]

The Kevlar lady.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Ironically, a truly superb application for Kevlar was stopped dead in its tracks, and basically forbidden.

In the 1960s, Phillips 66 had the idea of making giant rolls of Kevlar, which would be laid down on road bed before the asphalt. The road would then remain smooth and be free of cracks and potholes for perhaps 20 years. It would be more expensive, but save a lot of money by not needing frequent repairs.

However, it would have put the vast majority of paving companies in the US out of business. A very profitable business. So as a group they went to state legislatures demanding that this method of paving be prohibited. And while lobbying alone wouldn’t make the sell, they had lots of organized crime connections to close the deal.

[HiTech RedNeck]

And still... why isn’t it showing up in private paving projects? If it could strengthen many a parking lot, etc., against becoming decrepit? This is one of those conspiracy stories that sounds TOO facile. Maybe the stresses of being embedded in a mix of asphalt and cement were too much for even Kevlar.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Petromat...

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Margarine was outlawed for decades.

[raybbr]

Graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 1946.

[CrazyIvan]

I wonder how many times super achieving women like her and Grace Hopper are held up as examples for young women vs. the activist and community organizer parasites.

[BykrBayb]

Margarine is still outlawed in my home.

[HangnJudge]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile-reinforced_concrete

Uses of textile reinforced materials, concretes are extensively increasing in modern days in combination with materials science and textile technology. Bridges, Pillars and Road Guards are prepared by kevlar or jute reinforced concretes to withstand vibrations, sudden jerks and torsion (mechanics).

http://surface-tech.com/ace2.html

Discussion on mixing Kevlar fiber in asphalt

[HiTech RedNeck]

Because it’s not NICE to fool Mother Nature.

[Starstruck]

Margarine was outlawed for decades.

We always called it oleo.

[twister881]

Thank you, Stephanie Kwolek. RIP.

Fitting that a woman should invent an impenetrable substance. Similarly, a woman developed the most powerful contraceptive known to mankind — wedding cake.

[PapaBear3625]

There is at least one company that uses Kevlar asphalt, but they're using it on flat roofs for commercial buildings.

[null and void]

Rough roads. It’s not your fault. It’s not my fault. It’s the asphalt...

[GreyFriar]

Rest in Peace, Helmet Mom!

[skinkinthegrass]

Similarly, a woman developed the most powerful
contraceptive known to mankind — wedding cake.LOL! ..unfortunately, but true....

[Flick Lives]

Interesting story. So many things we take for granted in the modern world, but someone had to invent each and every one!

[cripplecreek]

Thank God the world still gives us inventors.

Gary Cola the self taught Detroit metallurgist will save a lot of lives with Flash Bainite which is already finding its way into armor only a few years after its invention.

(2011 FR thread)New Way to Make Lighter, Stronger Steel -- In a Flash