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Luisa is an assistant professor in the Textiles and Apparel Program at the University of Texas in Austin. Besides her strong passion for textiles and fabrication techniques , she is also interested in sustainability in the textile industry and in building interdisciplinary opportunities for her students. During her time at the University, she has also been a guest lecturer for the School of Architecture, the School of Fine Arts and also constantly speaks to different student organizations about the overlap of Textiles with other disciplines.
Luisa has collaborated with the department of Mechanical Engineering redesigning a robot for stroke, Chemical Engineering assisting the nanotechnology Maymester in Japan and UT Portugal program, and most recently Computer Science researching three-dimensional weaving.
Currently, Luisa is working with a team of researchers at the Biomedical Engeneering department and MD Anderson Hospital in Houston developing post operative garments for breast cancer patients.
Luisa also enjoys mentoring students and creating platforms for collaboration like the UT chapter of AATCC ( American Association of Colorists and Chemists), being the Principal Investigator for Women’s Relief Initiative, a student led project that aims to bring sanitary garments to Africa, advising Bridging Disciplines and Honors thesis (Polymatics and Dean’s Honors), and being part of the founding team of Cientifico Latino UT Austin Chapter . Luisa is also part of the faculty team that was awarded the 2019-2020 President's Award for Global Learning which is designing and prototyping sustainable materials for the fashion industry.
Presently, through Global Career Launch, Luisa has designed a six week international internship in collaboration with Citeve Textile Technology in Portugal. During this time, students gain skills in Biotechnology and Medical Textiles by learning drug release and encapsulation and textile fabrication for compression garments.
Through her company Fandindo, Luisa creates wholesale and custom made textile and fiber pieces that comply with codes and regulations for hospitality and interior design. In recent years, Luisa has been researching digital fabrication applied to textile surface design.
Current Affiliations:
Faculty Council member 2019-2021
Cientifico Latino- UT Austin Chapter
Experiential Learning Cohort 2019-2021
AATCC faculty advisor
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Fabric construction, digital fabrication, smart fabrics and sustainable materials.
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Luisa's work is featured in academic publications and books Crafting Textiles in the Digital Age
(Bloomsbury, U.K.) and Artistry in Fiber: Wall Art (Schiffer Publishing, U.S.), as well as industry journals like Furniture Today and
Metropolis architectural journal.
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- Global Career Launch 2021: Award to research and develop medical textiles with Citeve Textile Research Laboratory in Portugal.
- Seed Grant 2020, Action To Promote Community Transformation (ACT): The purpose of this funding is to create the UT Chapter of “Cientifico Latino”, an organization that aims to guide minorities through mentorship, events and workshops to apply to graduate school and research positions.
- President’s Award for Global learning 2019-2020.Awarded grant to go to Denmark for up to ten weeks and work with KEA Design School in development of biopolymers for buttons, trims, sequins and more.
- Experiential learning Initiative grant for course development 2020-2021
- Interdisciplinary Visualizing Science Award- College of Natural Science 2019.
- College of Natural Science Outstanding Teaching and Service Award, Spring 2019.
- University of Texas Innovation grant, Renue Labs-Consultant. 2018
- TIDES Institute, Course Redesign Award. Summer 2018
- SAC Conference award: Funds for presenting at IFAI 2018 conference.
- Bridging Disciplines Sustainability Award, March 2018. Funds used to be lecturer in the “Advanced nanotechnology for Beginners” Maymester in Japan and design and teach for two years “Sustainable Textiles and Biomaterials” class.
- Fast Forward –IC2 fellow. One of 25 Austin small business chosen for City of Austin subsidized Sept 2017-December 2017.
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Currently:
TXA 305 Textiles
TXA 360 Textile Testing
New Courses:
TXA 363T- Nanotechnologies in Textiles
TXA 340T- Sustainable Textile Manufacturing
TXA 317T- Textiles Fabrication
Past Courses:
TXA 205 - Textiles
TXA 105L- Textiles Laboratory
TXA 260M- Adavanced Textiles Laboratory
TXA 365- Sustainable Textiles and Biomaterials
TXA 214L- Product Development Laboratory
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