Standardization News

Meredith McQuerry, a Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, is the winner of the 2014 ASTM International Student Member Paper Competition.

The competition is part of ASTM's 2014 Focus on Academic Research Campaign, promoting how academic research can offer critical technical knowledge and fresh insights to the standardization process by facilitating the advancement of state-of-the-art technologies into market-relevant solutions. The academic research community has long made significant contributions to the ASTM process, and ASTM members from academia participate in the activities of most of our more than 140 standards development committees.

McQuerry holds bachelor's degrees in merchandising, apparel and textiles, and career and technical education, and a master's in merchandising, apparel and textiles from the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She is pursuing her doctorate in textile technology management, which she expects to complete in 2016.

The title of McQuerry's winning research paper is "Post-Use Analysis of Firefighter Turnout Gear: Phases I, II and III." As the contest winner, she will have the opportunity to present her research to ASTM Committee F23 on Personal Protective Clothing and Equipment at the group's January 2015 standards development meetings in New Orleans, Louisiana.

A student member of ASTM, McQuerry is also a member of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists and the International Textile and Apparel Association. She presented at the International Textiles Summit in 2014. She currently serves as a graduate research assistant in the Textile Protection and Comfort Center at North Carolina State.

Visit ASTM's website for more information on the 2014 Focus on Academic Research Campaign and ASTM's work with the academic community. Free student memberships are available for full-time undergraduate or graduate students. Sign up here.