This fall interdisciplinary graduate student teams in our Greener Solutions course are partnering with WLGore, the manufacturer and maker of Goretex, and MycoWorks, a San Francisco startup that makes a mycelium based leather substitute. For Gore a team will look at alternatives to perfluorinated compounds (PFC’s) to impart durable water repellency (DWR) to their technical clothing line. Many of their ideas will come from nature, such as the hydrophobic and self-cleaning characteristics of the lotus leaf. For MycoWorks, a team will look to imparting strength, durability and flexibility to the company’s material without using the harsh chemicals typically associated with the leather apparel industry.