Kevin Martin (MechEngr'16) Header image: Unwoven jeans

The technology that was prototyped for the first time in the Advanced Design Course of the Department of Mechanical Engineering was named one of the best inventions of 2021 by Time Magazine.

Unspun, the robotics and clothing company of alumni Kevin Martin (MechEngr'16), has built a machine that can 3D knit yarn into a pair of seamless jeans, tailored for individual buyers. This machine uses terrain knitting to produce pants in just ten minutes.

Martin hopes that this technology can help reduce global carbon emissions by making the design, manufacturing and consumption of clothing conscious.

"The North Star we keep coming back to is our climate," Martin said. "Climate change may become the most pressing issue of our lives. Clothing is one of the dirtiest industries in the world, because clothing that has never been sold will end up being thrown into landfills or burned. We feel this is a push Great opportunity for change."

His company’s mission is to implement sustainable practices to ensure that every piece of fabric used to make jeans is not wasted-which means that every pair of jeans is made to order.

To order a pair of jeans from unspun, you must first perform a 3D body scan. Customers can use their iPhone to scan themselves. The scan captures 30,000 data points for the robotic loom to create a perfect fit.

The 3-D loom is a technology originally developed in advanced design. Martin, who graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2016, and his co-founder sponsored a capstone project in 2017 to build their first prototype.

"I don't know if unspun really exists without a senior design team," Martin said. "We need a prototype, and they crushed it for us."

After that capstone project, Martin improved the prototype with funding from the National Science Foundation and the help of venture capital. Unspun is now running on the third version of the machine, which is why it won the 2021 "Time" award for best invention.

The unspun application can scan the customer's body to get the perfect fit.

"The biggest feeling this year is that the machine was unveiled for the first time after four or five years of not being able to talk about hardware," Martin said. "Tell the world that we have developed this new garment manufacturing method called 3D weaving, and it worked."

This is the second time that unspun has entered TIME's best invention list. The company also won this award in 2019 for designing its custom-made jeans software.

Martin, who grew up in Colorado Springs, said his interest in robotics began in high school. He built a remote-controlled aircraft, and by installing a camera on it, he created his own version of the drone. Then, he founded a company based on drone technology.

At CU Boulder, Martin turned the start-up company to a wired camera, allowing the system to move on the wire for safer indoor shooting.

"We came up with the whole plan and dived into Idea Forge at night to test it on the rafters, hoping that no one would see us," Martin said. "I remember when Professor Daria Kotys-Schwartz walked by and I was sitting on the rafters. The only thing I could think of was how much trouble I would have. Instead, she said that our robot looked cool and asked her how to help. She is very supportive."

Martin's advice to current mechanical engineering students is to take advantage of this encouraging atmosphere. There are many resources available for aspiring entrepreneurs and engineers.

Martin said: "Go find the teachers and professors in the university who are doing incredible things." "Share your excitement with them and understand their perspectives. You don't need to figure out all ten steps in life. , But they can help you figure out the next one or two."

Customers can order a pair of jeans on the unspun website or using the iPhone app. You will need the iPhone app for body scanning. The price of unwoven jeans is about $200, but Martin stated that CU affiliates can use the code SKOBUFFS to get a 20% discount.  

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School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Tel: 303-492-5071 Email: cueng@colorado.edu

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