Rate My Professor Raechel Laing

Raechel Laing is an Emeritus Professor of Clothing and Textile Sciences in the Division of Sciences at the University of Otago. She earned her PhD from the University of Otago in 1987 with a thesis on the lockstitch seam's geometric structure and tensile behaviour, an MS in Textiles from the University of Tennessee in 1969, and a DipEd from Otago. Joining the University in February 1970, she advanced to full Professor in Materials Science and Technology, serving until June 2022. As Director of the Clothing and Textiles Centre, she oversaw scientific and technical investigations for industry and the community. From 2017 to 2025, she was the University's Principal Investigator for the NZ Product Accelerator and represents the NZ Product Accelerator on the Future of Fibres Aotearoa Steering Group. She has held positions on boards including NZWTA (1982-1987) and Standards New Zealand (1988-1997), and contributed to international standards (ISO, AS/NZS), professional bodies, and laboratory practices (NATA).

Laing's research spans material sciences and technologies, engineering the structure, function, and behaviour of textiles through fibres, yarns, fabrics, finishes, and assemblies, and clothing's role in human health, safety, performance, and well-being, including skin health, compression garments' physiological effects, and injury prevention in workplaces and sports. Over 40 years, her international collaborations have advanced fibre and textile knowledge, evidenced by supervision of exceptional theses and over 3,000 Google Scholar citations. Awards include the Textile Institute's premier medal (2015) for industry-relevant research on fibres, fabrics, and human body interactions, the Holden Medal for Education (1997), and qualifications CText, FTI, HonFTI; she has served on The Textile Institute Council since 2007. Key publications feature 'Compression garments and exercise' (Sports Medicine, 2011), 'Textile sorption and release of odorous volatile organic compounds from a synthetic sweat solution' (Textile Research Journal, 2024), 'Bead-free electrospun nanofibrous scaffold made of PVOH/keratin/chitosan' (Polysaccharides, 2024), 'Fabrics and Garments as Sensors: A Research Update' (2019), and 'Clothing and bedding and its relevance to sudden infant death syndrome' (Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 1994).