Julia Wilfling

  • Doctoral Researcher

I am originally from Germany where I did my bachelor’s degree in Sports Engineering in Chemnitz. After that I moved to Vienna for my masters in Sports Equipment Technology. My master thesis was about the influence of backpack-designs on thermophysiological parameters during simulated hiking activities.

Title of Thesis: Fabric Hand and Skin Feel in Sports Clothing.

There are multiple facets of hand feel and skin feel over the body that are not well understood. When buying sports clothing, consumers are limited in judging the actual performance of the garment to first impressions. Is it possible to draw links between perceived preferences and the functional performance of a garment? A better understanding about how much hand feel/skin feel on the body contributes to an individual’s preference is needed. What are the impacts of gender, age and geographical location? Research into methods for evaluating preference and the dimensions of hand feel/skin feel sensation is very limited. Furthermore, linking objective measures of surface characteristics of materials to subjective sensations and in turn preference will be of great interest.

Supervisors: Dr Simon Hodder, Professor George Havenith.