'18 alumnus Kyle McKillop's making the next-generation of wearable tech

Kyle McKillop is a ’18 MatSE alumnus and now serves as the color, materials and finish engineer at Garmin, a company that offers GPS navigation and wearable tech for the automotive, aviation, marine, outdoor and fitness markets.

Let’s catch up with McKillop in a Q&A.

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Q: What’s day-to-day life like as the color, materials and finish engineer at Garmin?

A: “I lead materials selection, testing and qualification efforts for all new thermoplastic and elastomeric materials used across Garmin's five business segments, which include aviation, marine, automotive, outdoor and fitness. This involves multiple things in any given day.

“For materials selection, I either make recommendations from Garmin's internal materials library, or I work with our vendors and suppliers to identify and evaluate new materials to see if they meet product requirements. For materials testing, I research and onboard new materials-level tests into our labs and generate the testing procedures our technicians will follow. Lastly, for materials qualification, I develop the internal Garmin standards that materials are evaluated against, document the procedures for introducing new materials into our portfolio and maintain databases of all the qualification data we generate. All that to say, if a mechanical engineer needs to find a new material, test a new material, qualify a new material or figure out why a material broke, I'm the person they come to.”

Q: How does your work impact our everyday lives?

A: “Garmin products are everywhere! Next time you are at the gym, backpacking in the mountains or riding in a boat on the lake, look around and I'm sure you'll see people utilizing a Garmin device. I get to ensure that the products we develop are made from materials that will be able to withstand the environments they are used in, which guarantees customer satisfaction across all of our product lines.”

Q: What kind of innovative research are you working on now?

A: “So much! I'm evaluating sources of sustainable resins for Garmin marine products, looking to develop the next-generation of Garmin wearable bands, creating new test methods to quantify the mechanical, UV and chemical resistance of Garmin materials, and in general trying to identify new and exciting materials for our products.”

Q: What drew you to materials science and engineering?

A: “I've always loved chemistry and understanding how individual atoms and molecules within a material lead to bulk properties always fascinated me. I was specifically interested in organic materials, and so the polymers concentration of MatSE seemed like the perfect fit for me! I got to take numerous organic and physical chemistry courses to understand what was happening within polymer chains while at the same time taking materials science courses to understand how those microscopic interactions resulted in the plastic and elastomeric materials we see in our everyday life.”

Q: What made you choose Illinois?

A: “I knew from the first time I visited that I wanted to be a student at Illinois. There was something about stepping onto the main quad for the first time, surrounded by hundreds of people from all walks of life and studying so many different things that blew me away. I just felt drawn to the large college experience and knowing that I could meet so many people and experience so many different things while at the same time getting to make new friends and find smaller communities within U of I that I felt welcome in. I'd visited multiple other campuses prior, but none made me feel as welcome as U of I did. I still remember all the people I talked to and heard from that first visit and how sincere they sounded when they talked about how happy they were that they chose to attend U of I. I knew right then that I wanted to make the same choice.”

Q: What research did you conduct during your time at Illinois?

A: “Freshman and sophomore year I worked in a Biochemistry lab for Chemistry professor Wilfred van der Donk performing genetic engineering on E.coli, as I thought biomaterials were going to be my thing. Junior year I worked for MatSE professor Paul Braun doing hydrogel synthesis, and senior year I worked at the Army Corps of Engineers Research Lab doing composites fabrication and testing.

“I also spent two summers at 3M in St. Paul, Minn. The first summer I was doing silicone synthesis to develop high index of refraction materials for organic light-emitting diode display films, and the second summer I was developing pigmented polyurethane films for use in 3M's car wraps.”

Q: How did your time at MatSE prepare you for your career?

A: “I think the skills I use most to this day all have to do with materials testing — my ability to translate product requirements to materials-level tests that can be performed — and clearly communicating the results of these tests to my mechanical engineering coworkers is a skill I learned through numerous MatSE lab and 400-level courses.”

Q: What do you cherish most about your time at Illinois?

A: “Whether I was in class, at a Material Advantage meeting, at a party or working on homework, I was always doing it surrounded by my MatSE friends. I cherish the friendships I made at U of I so much. There are so many people I wish I got to see more often but getting to spend four years with them was one of the best experiences in my life.”

 

Q: What advice do you have for the incoming MatSE class?

A: “Find a good study group! The MatSE community was so important to me and knowing you have people to study with and bounce ideas off really helped me develop the understanding of materials science I have today. Sometimes there are going to be topics that just don't click for you during a lecture and having friends to help you after class is huge.”

Q: What encouragement do you have for current MatSE students?

A: “I know it is cliche advice, but enjoy MatSE and U of I to the fullest. The thing I miss most is having so many close friends in one place. There is really no other environment like college. Next time you're stressed about a Computer-Based Testing Facility quiz or working on a computational report in the computer lab, take a second to just look around and take in what an incredible place you are in.”