A Florida State University researcher is being honored by the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) for her work in developing better protective clothing for first responders and others in fields with unique clothing needs.
Meredith McQuerry, the Carol E. Avery Associate Professor of Retail Entrepreneurship, will be honored at the ITAA annual conference in Long Beach, California, in November with the ITAA Mid-Career Excellence Award. The award recognizes scholarship and achievements made by mid-career professionals.
McQuerry said the award meant so much to her, noting she had been a member of the organization since she was a graduate student.
“The foundation, the support, the network it has provided me throughout my career both in terms of mentorship and scholarship – it’s just invaluable,” McQuerry said. “To be recognized by those same mentors and peers for my scholarship achievement both in productivity and impact is humbling. It’s an honor.”
McQuerry’s research focuses on the physiological comfort and ergonomic mobility of protective clothing for first responders, athletes, and industrial workers. Her work utilizes the functional design process to engineer better performing personal protective equipment (PPE) for a wide range of specialized applications with unique experience in textile testing, standards, and quality assurance. Between her research on firefighting personal protective clothing, medical textiles and military uniforms, McQuerry has received more than $3.7 million in grant funding from FEMA, DOD, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Cotton Incorporated, private agencies, and internal awards.
“We are so very proud of all of Dr. McQuerry’s accomplishments, including this very prestigious mid-career recognition by her peers at the International Textile and Apparel Association for her exceptional and consistent scholarly achievements in securing external grants, top-tier journal publications and presentations of her research worldwide,” said Susan Fiorito, dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship at FSU. “She is truly a star in her discipline, and we are very proud to have her as a colleague and a shining example of excellence.”
Most recently, her federally funded research has centered on the design, comfort, and mobility issues of female firefighting PPE.
The number of women working in fire services has increased exponentially over the past few decades, but the equipment was not designed specifically for female bodies. Research has shown that female firefighters have been far more susceptible to injury, partially due to ill-fitting equipment.
“The research I do is based on need; it’s based on real world problems,” McQuerry said. “Unfortunately for those occupations… there are no shortage of those issues. I’m very passionate about helping solve those problems. Many times those come to me either through industry or government organizations. It’s always such a privilege to partner alongside those groups and those populations to help someone do their job better and be safer or healthier when performing their daily duties. That’s really the goal at the end of the day.”