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Stephanie Louise Kwolek

Published by in wowmen scientists ·
Tags: whatwomeninventedKevlar
Stephanie Louise Kwolek, July 31, 1923-June 18, 2014

in 1946, Kwolek earned a Bachelor of Science with major in chemistry and planned to become a doctor, hoping to pay for her medical education with money from a temporary job in the chemistry field. In 1946, due to a shortage of men because of the war, William Hale Charch offered her a position at DuPont's Buffalo, New York facility. She found the work interested and decided to stay.

While searching for a strong, but lightweight plastics to use in car tires, Kwolek discovered that a by produce usually thrown away could be made into what is know as Kevlar, five times stronger than steel by weight. This revolutionary fiber has saved countless lives in the form of bullet-proof vests, and is used in over 200 applications, such as bridge cables, sports equipment, cell phones and frying pans. Kwolek said, “I don't think there's anything like saving someone's life to bring you satisfaction and happiness.”

Kwolek signed over the Kevlar patent to the company. She has many patents, a long list of awards and was the first woman to file a patent in her own name. Until then, women traditionally filed patents in a man's name. Kwolek was the only female to receive DuPont's Lavoisier Medal. She was the fourth woman to be added to the National Inventors Hall of fame and received the National Medal of Technology, the Perkin Medal,  Howard N. Potts medal, the IRI Achievement award and the Perkin Meda.           


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