ABOUT
Sungmee
Park
Principal Research Scientist
sungmee.park@gatech.edu
404-385-5541
MRDC4504

Dr. Sungmee Park is a Principal Research Scientist in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her academic and corporate research activities have led to fundamental technological contributions to the field and new products in the marketplace, respectively. Her experience in the research and development continuum began with Professor Jayaraman at Georgia Tech with the development of an innovative fabric for the dancers in the Atlanta Ballet that blended form and function in a unique and effective manner. As a co-inventor of the world’s first Wearable Motherboard or Smart Shirt in 1996, Dr. Park laid the foundation for today’s wearables revolution, i.e., integrating electronics and textiles. The Smart Shirt enables the unobtrusive monitoring of athletes, patients, soldiers, public safety officials, senior citizens, and infants prone to SIDS, among others (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-px4MAKREs).

In 2006, Dr. Park was invited by Kolon Glotech (a member company of the Kolon Group) in South Korea to establish a laboratory for Smart Textiles. At Kolon Glotech, she developed the technology of “Printronix” – printing electronics on textiles – and created the world’s first heating textiles (HeaTex). This enabling technology was integrated into sports clothing for outdoor activities (civilian), Korean military ensemble, and automobiles, among others. She was also Vice President and Head of Future Strategy TF at Kolon Corporation. She was engaged in identifying new growth engines and strategic opportunities for the Kolon Group of companies. Her activities included identifying cutting edge technologies, nurturing research partnerships with leading universities around the world, and exploring new business and joint venture opportunities. Furthermore, she led the Kolon team on the development of the Inspiring Journey Exhibit, which also reflects her own interests and accomplishments at the intersection of arts, science and technology for the betterment of humankind.

Dr. Park’s publications include articles in refereed journals and book chapters. She has over 30 patents based on her research. In her ongoing collaboration with Professor Jayaraman, Dr. Park is exploring the role of “wearables” such as the Smart Shirt, in serving as a data acquisition platform for Big Data analysis with the human as an “information node.” She is a co-inventor on a next generation respiratory protection device and has developed a low cost reusable form-fitting fabric mask for community use.

Selected publications
  1. Park, S., Jayaraman, S., “From Containment to Harm Reduction from SARS-CoV-2: A Fabric Mask for Enhanced Effectiveness, Comfort, and Compliance” Journal of the Textile Institute, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2020.1805971.
  2. Hu, Y., Long, Z., Sundaresan, A., Alfarrai, A., AlRegib, G., Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “Fabric Surface Characterization: Assessment of Deep Learning-Based Texture Representations Using a Challenging Dataset” Journal of the Textile Institute, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1080/00405000.2020.1757296.   
  3. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “The Wearables Revolution and Big Data: The Textile Lineage”, Journal of the Textile Institute, 2017; 108:4, pp. 605-614.
  4. Kim, W., Kwon, S., Lee S., Kim J., Han Y., Kim E., Choi K., Park S., Park B., “Soft fabric-based flexible organic light-emitting diodes,” Organic Electronics, 14, 2013, pp. 3007-3013.
  5. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “Smart Textile-based Wearable Biomedical Systems: A Transition Plan for Research to Reality,” IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 86-92, 2010.
  6. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “Wearable Sensor Networks: A Framework for Harnessing Ambient Intelligence”, Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, Vol. 1, No. 2, 117-128, 2009.
  7. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “Smart Textiles: A Platform for Sensing and Personalized Mobile Information Processing”, Journal of the Textile Institute, Vol. 94, No. 3, pp. 87-98, 2003. Invited.
  8. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “Smart Textiles: Wearable Electronics Systems,” MRS Bulletin, Vol. 28, No. 8, August 2003, pp. 585-591. Invited.
  9. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., Enhancing the Quality of Life through Technology: The Role of Personalized Wearable Intelligent Information Infrastructure,” IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology, Vol. 23, No. 2, May/June 2003, pp. 41-48. Invited.
  10. Gopalsamy, C., Park, S., Rajamanickam, R., and Jayaraman, S., “The Wearable MotherboardÔ: The First Generation of Adaptive and Responsive Textile Structures (ARTS) For Medical Applications”, Journal of Virtual Reality, 4:152-168, 1999.
  11. Rajamanickam, R., Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., "A Structured Methodology for the Design and Development of Textile Structures in a Concurrent Engineering Environment", Journal of the Textile Institute, vol. 89, Part 3, 44-62, 1998.

 

Book Chapters

  1. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “Wearables: Fundamentals, Advancements and Roadmap for the Future”, in Sazonov, E., (Eds). Wearable Sensors: Fundamentals, Implementation and Applications – Second Edition, Elsevier, Amsterdam, ISBN-978-0-12-819246-7, September 2021, pp. 3-25.
  2. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “Wearable Biomedical Systems and m-Health”, The E-Medicine, E-Health, M-Health, Telemedicine, and Telehealth Handbook, Eren, H., and Webster, J.G., (Eds), pp. 99-122, CRC Press, ISBN 9781482236552, December 2015.
  3. Park, S., Chung, K., and Jayaraman, S., “Wearables: Fundamentals, Advancements and Roadmap for the Future”, in Sazonov, E., and Neuman, M., (Eds). Wearable Sensors, Elsevier, Amsterdam, ISBN-978-0-12-418662-0, September 2014, pp. 1-23.
  4. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “The Engineering Design of Intelligent Protective Textiles and Clothing”, in Kiekens, P., and Jayaraman, S., (Eds). Intelligent Textiles and Clothing for Ballistic and NBC Protection: Technology at the Cutting Edge, NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B: Physics and Biophysics, Springer, The Netherlands, ISBN-978-94-007-0575-3, January 2012, pp. 1-27.
  5. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “The Wearable Motherboard: the New Class of Adaptive and Responsive Textile Structures,” in Intelligent Textiles for Personal Protection and Safety (ed. S. Jayaraman, P. Kiekens and A. Grancaric), pp. 21-39, IOS Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2006.
  6. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “Intelligent Textiles for Personal Protection and Safety: The Emerging Discipline,” in Intelligent Textiles for Personal Protection and Safety (ed. S. Jayaraman, P. Kiekens and A. Grancaric), pp. 5-19, IOS Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2006.
  7. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “e-Health and Quality of Life: The Role of the Wearable Motherboard,” in Wearable eHealth Systems for Personalised Health Management (ed. A. Lymberis and D. DeRossi), pp. 239-252, IOS Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2004.
  8. Park, S., and Jayaraman, S., “Adaptive and Responsive Textile Structures,” in Smart Fibers, Fabrics and Clothing: Fundamentals and Applications (ed. X. Tao), pp. 226-245, Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, UK, 2001.
  9. Park, S., Gopalsamy, C., Rajamanickam, R., and Jayaraman, S., "The Wearable Motherboard™: An Information Infrastructure or Sensate Liner for Medical Applications,” in Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, IOS Press, Vol. 62, pp. 252-258, 1999.
Patents
  1. Jayaraman, S., Park, S., and Rajamanickam, R., Full-fashioned Weaving Process for Production of a Woven Garment with Intelligence Capability, US Patent No: 6,145,551, November 14, 2000. 
  2. Jayaraman, S., Park, S., Rajamanickam, R., and Gopalsamy, C., Fabric or Garment with Integrated Flexible Information Infrastructure, US Patent No: 6,381,482, April 30, 2002.
  3. Jayaraman, S., Gopalsamy, C., Rajamanickam, R., and Park, S., Method and Apparatus for Controlling Air Bag Deployment, US Patent No: 6,254,130, July 3, 2001.
  4. Jayaraman, S., and Park, S., Full-fashioned Garment with Sleeves Having Intelligence Capability, US Patent No: 6,315,009, November 13, 2001.
  5. Jayaraman, S., and Park, S., Garment in Fabric Having Intelligence Capability, Serial No: 09/713,160, US Patent No: 6,474,367, November 5, 2002.
  6. Jayaraman, S., Park, S., Rajamanickam, R., and Gopalsamy, C., Fabric or Garment With Integrated Flexible Information Infrastructure For Monitoring Vital Signs of Infants, US Patent No: 6,687,523, February 3, 2004.
  7. Jayaraman, S., and Park, S., A Novel Fabric-Based Sensor for Monitoring Vital Signs, Serial No: 09/713,161, US Patent No: 6,970,731, November 29, 2005.
  8. Jayaraman, S., and Park, S., Method and Apparatus to Create Electrical Junctions for Information Routing in Textile Structures, US Patent No: 7,299,964, November 27, 2007.
  9. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Flexible printed conductive fabric, Korean Patent No. 10-0945051.
  10. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Heating fabric and method for fabricating the same, Korean Patent No. 10-0955338.
  11. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Electric fabric and preparing thereof, Korean Patent No. 10-0938684.
  12. Park, S., Chung, K, and Cho, K., Interconnecting device, Korean Patent No. 10-0971535.
  13. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Electroluminescent fabric embedding illuminated fabric display, Korean Patent No. 10-1093728.
  14. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Flexible conductive fabric, Korean Patent No. 10-0956886.
  15. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Method for fabricating flexible printed conductive fabric, Korean Patent No. 10-0956887.
  16. Park, S., Chung, K., and Shin, S., Flexible LED panel, Korean Patent No. 10-1031908.
  17. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Heating fabric, Korean Patent No. 10-0959938.
  18. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Circuit design method for heating fabric, Korean Patent No. 10-1080233.
  19. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Method for fabricating heating fabric, Korean Patent No. 10-0959939.
  20. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Multilayered electronic fabric and preparing thereof, Korean Patent No. 10-1092645.
  21. Park, S., and Chung, K., Cool and Hot Seat, Korean Patent No. 10-1163635.
  22. Park, S., and Chung, K., Planar heating element with waterproof, moisture-permeable, and antistatic property and manufacturing method thereof, Korean Patent No. 10-110284.
  23. Park, S., and Chung, K., Interconnecting device, Korean Patent No. 10-1341622.
  24. Park, J., Park, H., Cho, J., Park, S., and Chung, K., Method for producing fabric board with via-hole, Korean Patent No. 10-1145098.
  25. Park, S., Kim, M., Chung, K., and Lee, S., The load of the fluid pressure sensing mat, Korean Patent No. 20-2012-00012297.
  26. Park, S., and Chung, K., The clothing which has all a heat generation function, Korean Patent No. 20-2007-0020927.
  27. Park, S., and Chung, K., Heating element and selective method for mounting, Korean Patent No. 20-2011-0007932.
  28. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Flexible printed conductive fabric and method for fabricating the same, US Patent No: 8003198, August 23, 2011.
  29. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Heating fabric and method for fabricating the same, CN Patent No. 200780041690.3, September 5, 2012.
  30. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Electronic fabric and preparing thereof, JP Patent No. 5277249, May 24, 2013.
  31. Park, S., Cho, K., and Chung, K., Electroluminescent fabric embedding illuminated fabric display, US Patent No. 8384288.
  32. Jayaraman, S., and Park, S., Smart Hub for Smart Garment, US Patent No. 9582038 B1.
  33. Jayaraman, S., and Park, S., “SmartHub for Smart Garment”, US Patent No. 9582038 B1, February 28, 2017.
  34. Jayaraman, S., and Park, S., “Respiratory Protection Device”, US Patent No: 10646731B2, May 2020.
Education
  • BS in Clothing & Textiles (1987), Catholic University, Korea
  • MFA in Textile Design (CAD-CAM)  (1993, Georgia State University
  • MS in Textile Engineering (1995), Georgia Institute of Technology
  • PhD in Materials Science & Engineering (2019), Georgia Institute of Technology
Awards

2018      Research Publication Award, The Textile Institute, Manchester, UK

2016       Inaugural Georgia Tech Leadership Excellence Award, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia.

2014      4Habitats (the main feature of this innovative art exhibition, Inspiring Journey) won the prestigious Red Dot Grand Prix in the Communication Design category.

2014      Spunbond (the media art film about spunbond manufacturing process) was awarded Red Dot Best of Best Prize in the Film & Animation category.

2011      Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni, CoE, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia

2010      IT Convergence Award, Government of Korea, Seoul, South Korea

2010      Korean Prime Minister’s New Growth Business Award, Seoul, South Korea

2009     IR52 Jang Yeong-Sil Award, “Heatex® Smart Electronic Heating Textiles using Conductive Materials”, Korean Ministry of Science & Technology, Seoul, South Korea

2005      Invited Lecturer, NATO Advanced Study Institute on Intelligent Textiles for Personal Protection and Safety, September 7-10, 2005, Zadar, Croatia.

2003      The Smart Shirt was named as one of the 10 Inventions That Will Change the World by NEWSWEEK Magazine, June/July 2003.

2002      The first Smart Shirt (Wearable Motherboard) is now in the 20th Century Textile Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, July 2002; it was on display in a public Exhibit entitled “Inventing Ourselves” at the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation of the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, DC, February 2004 – 2006.

2001      The Smart Shirt was featured as one of the Best Inventions of the Year 2001 by TIME Magazine, November 19, 2001.

1998      The Smart Shirt was featured in the Special Issue of LIFE Magazine entitled Medical Miracles for the Next Millennium as one of the "21 Breakthroughs that Could Change Your Life in the 21st Century", Fall 1998.