Stephanie Louise Kwolek was a Polish-American chemist who is known for inventing Kevlar. Her career at the DuPont company spanned more than 40 years. She discovered the first of a family of synthetic fibers of exceptional strength and stiffness: poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide.
Kwolek in 1986
Royal Society of Chemistry - Stephanie L Kwolek Award (2014)
A quote by Stephanie Kwolek, photographed in 2024 inside the Delaware Museum of Nature & Science.
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires. It is typically spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such, or as an ingredient in composite material components.
Kevlar
Pieces of a Kevlar helmet used to help absorb the blast of a grenade
Kevlar is a very popular material for racing canoes.
Fire poi on a beach in San Francisco