Motor City, USA

I made it to Detroit!

Last week was dedicated to preparing for the upcoming 5 weeks of interviews that are intended to provide validity and insight for my thesis research. I had a trial interview with one of my committee members and it felt great! There were a few minor adjustments that needed to be made to my visual presentation materials and then it was just a matter of printing everything. Nancy also came back to the states (yey)! I had a run-through with her and we discussed how many different directions the interviews could go in and how to be time-conscious. This will definitely be the biggest difficulty of this process. I am interviewing some of the busiest people in the industry and recognize the value and generosity of their time. It is crucial that I guide the discussion efficiently in order to achieve the goals of this research and make the best use of their time as well as my own. I'm sure its obvious, but I am very passionate about my research. I think this will be a very entertaining, and perhaps enlightening process for all involved.

Last night we went to a movie and dinner in Royal Oak- which looks very different when its not in the snowy negative temperatures. We walked for a bit and ended up at a BBQ and Blues restaurant with a live band and walked outside to find a vintage Ford on the curb. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but a great photo op.

Unifi Visit

On Tuesday, I visited Unifi. Unifi produces, textures, and dyes all types of filament (and works with many spun) yarns for multiple industries. Since my research is focusing on color, we visited the dye house in Reidsville, NC. This was a great opportunity for me to refresh my color chemistry memory as well as learn something new (or a lot of somethings). By speaking with my contact there and learning about the processes involved in color matching, the dyeing process, and documenting this information for future reference and consistency, I picked up on several helpful hints for how to record my color observations from the automotive fabrics. He also spoke in detail about the history of the industry since he's been involved and the dynamics between all levels of the automotive supply chain.

In the hay-days for automotive textiles, from the mid 1980's until the mid 1990's, yarns were being packaged dyed. Unifi led this evolution by developing all procedures to dye polyester yarns, along with other filaments, such as nylon (which at the time was supposedly "impossible" to dye). This meant more business for Unifi, but it also meant more control by the designers and represented a time that automotive fabrics represented quality and luxury.

In the mid 90's, one of the OEMs demanded that costs be cut by piece-dyeing yardage, and everyone else fell in line. Rather than designers controlling design, all control was given to purchasing and the result has been the bland grays and neutrals you'll find yourself sitting on today. It was at this point that companies began refusing to pay more that $100 to upholster the entire interior. Not only did switching to piece dye limit design capability, but there was a lot of "corner-cutting" by the OEMs. For example, take a good look at your "leather" seats. Chances are the only leather is inlay, the very center of each seat. The bolster, on the edges, is almost always vinyl, and its all coated with acrylic. The same is true in fabrics. Its ironic that cost-cutting has landed the automotive industry in the financial crisis we are experiencing today.

While so much has changed, not just in the past 10 years...but in the past 10 months, with this industry, it is necessary to review what has changed since the most successful times in order to be successful again. The de-evolution from package dyeing to piece dyeing is just 1 example at 1 level of this industry. There is much to learn, but I hope that my research will contribute to increasing success through value, quality, and design.

Portfolios, Pets and Progress.

Another month has passed and on top of the work I am doing for the College of Textiles and my job search, I am constantly finding new ways to keep myself busy.

Updates
1) I have created a new set of instructions and a working chain plan for EAT in conjunction with the ElTex. We are currently working with some of the wonderful personnel at EAT to check that these are accurate. This will enable us to have our ElTex loom working properly, and ensure that students, faculty and staff will be able to easily work with this loom and software in the future. Once the instructions are verified, I will be gin creating a database of weave structures.

2) In continuation of my thesis research, I am working with graduate student Ivy Hill to determine trends in hand by the categories of Thickness and Softness. Once all data is collected, we will evaluate the trends and make predictions for the future.

3) Although I have not yet found my niche in the automotive textile industry, I am not allowing my confidence to falter. This is a tough job market, especially for such a specific area of interest. In addition to my career search, I have been finding new and exciting ways to continue my cash flow beyond working with the college. These are listed in the next section.

New Projects
1) Pet walking, sitting, loving... I am an animal lover to the extreme, but I know that until I have a normal working schedule, a permanent living situation, and a steady cash flow, I cannot have a pet of my own. Instead, I have integrated others' pets into my life and have added to my weekly income. This is usually the most exciting part of my day. If you're local and have a pet that needs some extra love and attention while you're at work, gone for the weekend, etc., contact me and I'll be glad to help!

2) I am starting my own online business! I am offering services to help prepare you for the job market. I am offering services such as Resume writing, formatting and editing and Portfolio building. I can also provide guidelines and personal consultations for Interview success and self-promotion for "You as a Product". The website is currently in progress and will connect from this blog as soon as it is available.

3) In addition, I am thinking about heading west to California by the end of the summer, surrounding myself with automotive design centers. While I'm there, I'll continue my Pet-sitting and Resume services and perhaps work part-time with an automotive trim shop or in a retail environment. I will continue my career search and will be ready to move wherever the best opportunity may take me.

More from Pebble Beach

Before making it into the show, Dad and I started to wonder what exactly was inside the gates, considering that the parking lot and grounds before the main entrance hosted a great variety of classics and the Hottest concepts and performance and luxury cars available. Including: Bugatti and Bentley (this year's sponsors), Telsa, Porsche, Lexus, Infinity, Spyker, McLaren, Rolls Royce, and a few from specialty design teams I've never seen before such as Tramontana and Iconic. It was beautiful!

Might I add that my dad looks pretty spiffy next to that Bugatti Veyron!

Interview Phase 1: Detroit....Complete.

It has been a wonderful week!

This past week I was in Detroit beginning the interview phase of my research.  These included two Tier 2 (or 3) companies (textiles suppliers), two Tier 1 (seating systems and automotive paints), two OEMs and an automotive textile engineering and consulting firm.  I also met with Detroit Body Products, one of the companies which has provided the trim books I am using for my data collection.   I've met with professionals in design, engineering, purchasing and in executive positions.   I am coming close to "getting little bit of everything" and have completely only 1/3 of the planned interviews.  With all the success of the week, there was one bump in the road.  One company was unable to meet due to possible legality issues.  This is understandable, and a very common issue for any researcher.  But have no fear- there may be an opportunity to host this interview via conference call at a later date (once the proper legal clearance has been achieved).  

I'd like to extend my thanks to all of those who participated and shared their experience and insight.  This niche industry is well-intertwined with creative, talented and inspiring individuals, who have reaffirmed my desire to become continue on this career path.

Racing the Clock

I woke up this morning with the reality of having exactly 2 weeks before I begin interviewing nearly 70 professionals in the automotive textile industry.  Every day is now part of the count down!

This Week

I'm giving myself 1 more week to focus on researching the factors that have influenced trends in body cloth motif, scale, and color.  During these past few weeks, I have also been researching trend cycles.  Although this information will not be presented in the interviews, I hope to compare previously observed trend cycles with those I have uncovered.  I have found some very unique historical research such as that by Richardson and Krobler, which tracks women's fashion through 3 centuries of changing dress width and length, or Robinson's studies on men's facial hair and American automobile size.  Other trends that I'm sure have impacted this industry include national and expendable income, increase in globalization and the impact of foreign automotive markets, and times of war and natural disaster (just to name a few).  I hope to learn about much of this through the interview process, which I'm sure will also reveal many factors I may not have considered.

Analysis

In order to discover factors, I am first acknowledging the cycles, peaks and troughs of motif, scale, and color trends.  I am looking for critical dates and asking the question, "what made this happen?".  The potential factors are limitless.  By noting critical dates first, I should be narrowing my scope to only the factors that had noticeable effects.  

Also this week, I have become a manager (what?).  I have realized that I've gone in a little too deep with the amount of time remaining before I begin interviews.  

How did I get here?  Well, I'm usually wonderful about over-estimating the time it will take to complete a task, and I have been so generous  with each of my due-dates.  I have also been careful about reevaluating my goals with the time remaining at each step.  Reaching out to contacts, however, is what did me in.  Since March, I have been in light contact with a few key players who have helped me organize my list and collect information.  July 1 is the date I set to send initial contact letters to potential interview participants.  It is 3 1/2 weeks later and I am still spending a few hours each day on the phone, replying to emails, or searching for contact information for emails that have bounced back and retirees who have moved.  I knew this would happen- but certainly not to this extent!    

What's the new plan?  The solution was quite simple (although costly).  I have hired 2 of my  very wonderful friends from the College of Textiles, who are well-versed in color, to work with the color analysis, Sara Yasin and Emily Hanhan.  A few weeks ago I created a color table classification system (shown a few posts back) and a spreadsheet for the data to be recorded.  I ran about 7 trial years and realized that my eye was being far too picky and taking far too long.  Sara and Emily are working from 2 different ends of the time spectrum and will meet in the middle.  This process is a simple matter of classification and counting, but it is "mind-numbing" and time-consuming and I just don't think I could be prepared for what August and September have in store for me without their help.  (Thanks ladies!)

So now I have a fun-filled weekend of playing "what are the factors?" and have the goal of leaving the apartment a total of 1 time (yes, I've become a bit of a hermit).  I guess next week I will update on what's in store just 1 week prior to interviews.  Thanks for the support!

Also...I apologize for not adding images of my trend cycles.  We'll all just have to wait until my thesis has been submitted and approved for publications so that I'm protecting myself from all that legal whoop-la.  August 16th you can expects lots of pictures of lots of really amazing cars from Pebble Beach!

Back from NYC

The City must love me :)  

The weather was perfect the entire time I was in New York, and I was welcomed back to North Carolina on Sunday to 99*F and 12 new mosquito bites.  But I also got to spend a surprise evening with my whole family because they were in town celebrating my sister's birthday!

And now...it is back to the research world!

I have exactly 25 days before I leave for the interview portion of my research in Michigan, California, and North and South Carolina.  So its time to center myself again and see what's left:

1) COLOR ANALYSIS 1960-2006  (July 13-19)

2) CONTACT INTERVIEWEES  (July 13- August 7)

3) FACTORS portion of Literature Review (July 20-31)

4) Create a MODEL demonstrating the relationship between Observed Trends and Researched Factors (August 3-6)

5) Finalize Travel Plans based around Interview Schedules (August 3-6)

Lets just see if I can pull this off!  There's little time for error or the unexpected, but there are very few interruptions in the upcoming weeks and I'm confident that I can keep my head in the game!

Color Analysis Scale

Hello from Brooklyn!  

I've spent the past few days absorbing the culture of Brooklyn, New York.  This is certainly a different world from Manhattan and I'm loving it!  I'm staying with a friend from CoT and we've surrounded ourselves with NC kids throughout the weekend.  I just seem to bring beautiful weather with me as its been warm and sunny with a nice breeze- just perfect for lots of time outdoors!  Even though I will still be around until Sunday (switching over to Manhattan on Wednesday), I'm going to have to keep myself indoors for the week as deadlines are approaching!

Below is a color scale I've created in order to categorize the DeLeo/Detroit vinyl swatches for color.  I still haven't exactly figured out how this will be done, as I currently have 124 different color groups.  This chart scale was created based on a digital Munsell scale I found.  The image was pixelated so the colors were not pure, which is why I created my own.  As you can see there are some inconsistencies in gradation of chroma and value, but for the purpose of this study, I am focusing on color trends in a very general perspective and am doing so by creating color groups.  If you have any further suggestions, please let me know!

Click Image to Enlarge!

I'm still here!

I've had a few of you asking where I've been...

well...I've been making progress!

Slowly (very slowly), but surely.

So here's a quick update:

Making Connections

Most of last week was spent organizing our contact list and beginning to make connections.  First on our list were members of the Color Marketing Group.  Nancy is a member of this organization which "provides a forum for the exchange of non-competitive information relating to all phases of color marketing: color trends; and combinations; design influences; merchandising and sales; and education and industry contacts".  As a member benefit she has access to the contact information of all other members.  While most are personal connections of Nancy's, we also reached out to others that we thought would be able to provide insight into my research.  Those that I have connected with already have been some of the most informative and kind people I have ever spoken with.  They have helped guide me in the right direction (a new direction) and have helped to make sure I have access to all the information that they know is available.

Check them Out: www.colormarketing.org

I have also connected with a California contact and reconnected with Stephanie Rodgers in Michigan, who are both helping me extend my network and interview options.

I have also reached out to one of Nancy's contacts at Unifi, a North Carolina based yarn manufacturer who supplies every industry from hosiery to automotive.  I plan to visit the Unifi office in Greensboro and one of the manufacturing facilities in Reidsville next week.

Changing Directions

So I did it.  I did what every graduate student does.  I have changed my focus mid-way.  Okay, that might not quite be fair...how about I have narrowed my focus (much better).  I tend to overdue it, and what I once thought was a small task, I have now realized was not reasonable expectations within my time frame.  

So what's the difference?

Now I am focusing on Color, Motif, and Motif Scale.

This decision has eliminated structure and materials.  We hoped that De Leo and Detroit Body Products (the producers of the automotive trim books...my primary source) had maintained a database with all the information the books didn't list, such as materials, and structure, and the supplier information.  They, however, informed us they do not.  After sitting down with Helen Scott, a former designer for Guilford Mills, we realized that the only way for even the most experienced fabric designer to tell exactly how an automotive fabric is constructed (when you can't remove it from the books) is if they designed it themselves.  

It was time to move on.

The solution was obvious.  I need to analyze what I can see.  I can see color and pattern.  After running my idea past Nazire (a VERY helpful doctoral student of Nancy's), and Stephanie, I knew I had something good.  The only thing I didn't know was why I hadn't thought of this sooner!  I Love Color!  I am certain that I am now on the path to success!

Now What?

I have spent this past week creating an analysis system for Motif and Motif Scale.  

Motif is divided into the following 14 categories: Solid, Solid Basket, Solid Twill, Solid Knit, Plaid, 2 Color Basket, 2 Color Twill, Lines/Ridges/Stripes, Geometrics, Honeycombs, Florals/Organics, Mesh, Textural, and Dots.

Motif Scale is divided into the following 5 categories: None (Solid), Small (<1.5cm),>5cm), and Multi-Color.

I have successfully analyzed 4 years according to this system at about 1 hour per year.  That makes my total analysis time about 60 hours, which I hope to accomplish in 1 1/2 weeks.

Once I have completely analyzed for Motif and Motif Scale, I will then create a system to analyze color.  I hope that our contact at Unifi will have some insight into this process.  Our current plan is to analyze color based on the vinyls for each company in order to get a general feel of the color trends by year.

I guess its back to work!  Please feel free to email me again if you catch me slacking on my posts :)

Committee Meeting 4

Its 3 a.m. and I am WIDE awake...so what is better than to update my blog?  I'm sure the reason I am awake at such an unruly hour is because my head is swimming with new and old information regarding my research.  I have some pretty big decisions to make, and very little time to make them. 

1. New Meeting Date

One of the biggest things that became obvious from the meeting Tuesday, is that by mid-summer, we're all sure I will be in desperate need of another committee meeting.  Originally, our next meeting wasn't scheduled until July 28th.  Part of the reason for this is because Nancy summers in England with her husband .  The other part is because I see the summer as a chance to really accomplish something, with as few "distractions" as possible.  What was I thinking?  My committee is not a distraction!...they are truly there to help me to the best of my ability.  They are not just a sounding board for ideas, or a group who's only purpose is to sign a piece of paper to ensure I graduate.  I think this may be the #1 mistake most graduate students make.  The truth is, they are a... group of individuals, genuinely interested in my success.  They are in total support of not only my research, but also my future.  If I allow myself to ask for help, this whole process will prove much more fruitful.

Key Tip #6: Your committee is your most valuable asset.

Our next date is now scheduled for June 22 (with Nancy via skype).  By this point my goals are to complete the preliminary literature review and the swatch analysis

2. Predicted Factors

One point that developed from our discussion was that in order to tackle such an immense body of data effectively, I must have a prediction of the trends I expect to see, and the factors that led to these trends.  This brought me back to my original plan of attack (from December).  It was at this time that I had planned to learn about the contributing factors first, and then analyze their effects based on the story of the samples.  We realized that if I approached it this way, there would be no concrete stopping point.  To combat this, we decided to approach from the other end, and I also developed Hypotheses as follows:

Hypotheses 1-4 were developed in relation to Research Objective 4:

1. Consumers influence automotive upholstery trends.

2. Suppliers influence automotive upholstery trends.

3. OEMs influence automotive upholstery trends.

4. Global Factors influence automotive upholstery trends.

Hypothesis 5 was developed in relation to Research Objective 5:

5. The decision makers in automotive upholstery are a cyclic struggle between design, engineering, and purchasing.  Trends in automotive upholstery have developed based on who holds the decision-making power.  (See image below)

The Factors I predict discovering in the post-analysis literature review are also included below.  It is important to note that I am not limiting myself to only these, and perhaps the list will even be shorter after the analysis, but this list gives me an idea of what I can expect to find.

3. Method of Visual Analysis

I will begin with a univariate analysis of materials, structures, colors, and patterns.  Below is a very rough example with made-up color data.  At the bottom of each graph, I will align the influencing factors in order to see what effect they may have had on the fabrics over time.  This is my very general proposed method of analysis as of today, just to present a visual model to the committee.  Please keep in mind, part of my preliminary literature review involves understanding how previously published research focusing on trend cycles organized the data.  I hope that a better system will develop from this information.

4.  Years Covered by the Analysis

Now this is the big one!

A) Original Plan: Cover major events in the past 100 years that influenced upholstery development.  Look for changes in the fabrics that reflected these events.

B) Updated Plan: Analyze 50 years of fabrics first to identify trends in Materials, Structure, and Design, and then determine what factors influenced these trends.

C) Proposed Plan: Analyze fabrics from the past 10 years and identify the influencing factors in order to design successfully in the future.

This is where I could certainly use your feedback!

It is quite the delimna for me, and needs to be decided very quickly.  I understand that C is more relevant, will be more interesting for those I'm interviewing, and that they will be able to answer more precise questions (since many of them designed the majority of these fabrics), and all of this will make collecting accurate data much easier.  Also, if I go with C, my analysis and factor exploration can be much more detailed.

Plan B is the big picture.  I understand that it will not be possible to reach the level of detail that is possible with C, due to the volume of data.  However, its the big historical events and cycles that interest me the most.  I've been viewing this research as a historical analysis from the beginning, and feel that analyzing 10 years instead of 50 makes a huge difference in my goals.

I'll will graciously accept all comments and votes for these options!  I have a feeling that those of you who have been through this process are going to shout out "C", but for the optimists (meaning anyone who has never written a 200-page research paper, including myself) 'B' just seems more interesting...am I right?

My Next Moves:

Even without making this crucial decision, there is much to be done!

This week I have tried to contact every known source that might possess a list of the top selling vehicles including Automotive News, Car and Driver, MotorTrend, Forbes, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the DoT Bureau of Transportation Services, Detroit News, and of course Ward's Automotive.  I left messages at as many people as I could contact at the first 4, the government associations both referred me to Ward's, and the Detroit News information library laughed at me and wished me good luck! :)  I finally got a call back from Ward's.  They have this data beginning in 1980 (still not 1955, but it gets me 16 years closer than before!).  We have been playing phone tag, but it sounds like they will be glad to let me purchase this data (joy...more $).  Hearing from them has also allowed me to conclude that if they do not have a list prior to 1980, no one does (besides calling all companies individually).  This means I need a new plan of attack for selecting vehicles between 1955-1979 (1 potato, 2 potato, 3 potato, 4?).

I have also met with Zoe Starling and Mary Hauser, curators at the NC State Gregg Museum.  I contacted them with hopes of learning more about maintaining archives, and for advice on developing a consistent system for recording my analysis data.  They referred me to the museum at FIT, which maintains a swatch collection, and to www.DocuSwatch.com. (This is certainly not a sophisticated site, but the contact information is available, and they might prove to be a valuable research).  

We also spoke quite a bit about the TIMMIE collection.  This collection consists of late 19th to mid 20th century American textile history.  Timmie Corporation of Wilmington, NC produced home furnishings and automotive textiles in its mills from 1952-1983.  In the collection are swatches of fabrics and the original specs used to communicate between the customer and supplier.  Unfortunately Nancy and I are perhaps the only ones outside of the Museum staff who have spent any time with this collection, and it is hidden away in drawers without any clear organization system (which would be a huge undertaking!).  This collection actually sparked my research topic, but once we decided to focus on fabrics after 1955, we also decided to stick with the De Leo and Detroit books.  Viewing pieces of this collection today, did, however, reveal the opportunity to use some of the notes written on each swatch regarding customer demand and pricing in the factor stage of the post-analysis literature review.

The final goal for this weekend is to conduct a full analysis of 2004, 2005, and 2006.  For each year, I will prepare the vehicle data cards and analyze the fabrics by materials, structure, and design.  This information will be recorded in a database and hopefully set the format for the rest of my study.

Wow...its amazing how much you can write when you just can't stop thinking at 4 a.m.!

Research Update

Below are some of my main slides for my Marketing Research class's final research proposal.  If you have having difficulty reading any of the slides, click on the image for a larger view.  As always, feel free to contact me with feedback or questions: www.AutoTexDesign@gmail.com.

NCSU College of Textiles Research Open House

Next Thursday, April 16th, the NC State College of Textiles and the Textile Association of Graduate Students are hosting the Seventh Annual Research Open House. The event takes place from 8:30 a.m. until 8:30 p.m. on the Centennial Campus. The day's events include recognized speakers from the College and the textile industry, CoT tours, and a poster session featuring current graduate work.
For full information about this event, including the schedule, speakers, directions to the College and contact information, please visit: www.tx.ncsu.edu.

I will be presenting my research as a work in progress. My research poster is posted below, as well as my poster from last year that outlines the product development process for my Splinter seating prototypes.

Committee Meeting 3

Hello Hello!  So what's my big news?  I had another committee meeting this week- better yet- my head is still attached to my shoulders!  

I went into Tuesday's meeting overwhelmed.  I came out nearly nauseous from an overload of ideas.  Wednesday I followed up with Nancy, and by Wednesday evening, life started to make sense again.  I think every graduate student can relate to this vicious cycle.  Today I spent several more hours reviewing this week's advancements and believe I am at peace with tackling the task ahead of me.  Below is a rather lengthy synopsis of Tuesday's meeting and where I plan to go from here in order to successfully reach that ominous deadline.  

During the Meeting

1) Updated Plan of Work Approval (Added Independent Study with Nancy in Jacquard Woven Design)

2) Adjust Timeline

3) Discuss Updated Outline

Updated Outline: An Exploration of Factors Affecting Innovation in Automotive Upholstery, 1950-2010

I have now clarified my purpose of study:

Determine trends and trend cycles in the automotive upholstery over the past 60 years.  Based on these trends and industry interviews, understand what factors are involved in creating successful automotive fabric.  From this information, develop predictions for future trends in automotive upholstery.

I have also finalized my research objectives:

1) What trends have recurred in the materials used in automotive upholstery?                       

2) What trends have recurred in the types of fabric structures used in automotive upholstery?           

3) What trends have recurred in fabric design (colors, and patterns) in automotive upholstery?

4) What factors contributed to these trends?

5) Based on these factors and trends, what predictions can be made for future automotive interior upholstery?

In order to accomplish these objectives, I will:

1) Review pre-existing literature on automotive upholstery in order to better evaluate the fabrics’ materials and constructions.  I will also review literature that explores trend cycles in order to understand how to document my findings, relate these to outside factors, and justify my approach.

2) Analyze the fabrics from the Top 5 Best Selling Vehicles in the US from the DeLeo collection.  From the swatches, I will be able to determine the year, model and make of the vehicle, the materials, structure and fabrication method, and the fabric design (colors and patterns) of the fabric.  I will catalogue this information and examine it using various statistical analysis tools (yet to be decided) in order to determine trends and trend cycles.

3) Conduct a follow-up literature review in order to understand what factors may have contributed to the observed trend cycles.  These sources will focus on consumer, OEM, and global influences in automotive design and textiles.  I will also complete my study on the F-Series (America’s all time best selling vehicle) in order to gain an in-depth understanding of what factors are involved in design during a vehicle’s life cycle.

4) Conduct industry interviews in order to confirm and validate the factors that I have determined contributed to innovations in automotive upholstery.

5) Based on these factors and trends, I will make predictions for designing successful automotive upholstery fabrics for the future.

Literature Review

            We spent the majority of the meeting discussing the literature review, which was certainly a wise use of our time.  Initially my thoughts were too broad and too vague at the same time.  I think the main reason for this is because until Tuesday’s meeting, the literature review was the most intimidating part of my thesis (which shouldn’t be true), and this was keeping me from getting off to an efficient start.  Our solution is actually the opposite of what is normally done; I will be conducting my primary literature review after my research.  Most graduate students are strongly advised against this, but we felt that this was the natural order of progression for my study.  I will still conduct a preliminary literature review, as discussed in Point 1 above in order to better understand what I am looking for and how to evaluate this information, but the majority of my traditional literature review will conducted after my fabric analysis.  This way I will be able to focus my efforts only on the factors that actively influenced trends seen in the sample analysis.

Goals before May 12 Committee Meeting:

1) Complete TTM Research Proposal. 

This is an assignment given for my Research Methods class, taught by Dr. Moore (my committee co-chair).  For the proposal, we are a write an Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Prospective Benefits and Limitations, and create a Timeline/Budget, within a 10-page document.  I have discussed much of this with my committee, but this assignment will force me to put it all on paper in order to get the ball rolling.  This is also a great opportunity to receive valuable feedback before I am in too deep.

2) Begin Fabric Analysis and Cataloguing.

In order to successfully complete my proposal, it will be necessary to understand if my analysis process will be a success.  I hope to analyze fabrics in the 2006 and 2005 DeLeo books, 10 vehicles total.