WoW Woman in WearableTech | Gunikka Ahuja, founder of GKAWeartech

Interview by MarijaButkovic

Gunikka Ahuja is a technologist who is passionate about revolutionizing the future of clothing. The science of integrating hard and soft goods to make smart textiles excites and motivates her to develop products that can completely substitute fast fashion and challenge manufacturers to save our planet through wearable technology. As a Senior at the Wilson College of Textiles, she has a strong foundation in Engineered Textiles and the Supply Chain of the same. Her hometown is New Delhi, India but she goes to University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Currently, due to COVID-19, she is on a gap year and is working on developing her startup GKAWeartech.

Gunika, tell us a bit about your background and your projects so far.

I am currently a senior at North Carolina State University majoring in Textile Technology with a concentration in Supply Chain Operations. Past three years of my undergraduate studies, I have been involved with diverse research groups and faculty projects. As a freshman in college, I founded Turban'ed Kaur, a project that provides a platform to celebrate diversity and supports cultural empowerment. As a Founder and Creative Head of this project, I designed and manufactured the turbans as well as styled and photographed a turban shoot. The goal of this project was to educate the college community about Sikh Turbans via a culturally inclusive photo shoot and a Turban tying workshop.

As a research funded fellow by the National Science Foundation, I have led a smart prosthetics project to provide better comfort to amputee patients with a focus on improving the prosthetic liner. This was achieved by developing silicon-based sensor fabrics to insert in the prosthetic socket to help patients better communicate with the doctor via Bluetooth. An in-depth literature review analysis was also performed for proposal purposes to the NSF.

In Addition to this, I have developed an E-textile BodyFit Suit that is designed to help fitness and health-conscious individuals who want to participate in competitive sports, make lifestyle changes, or require health diagnosis. This was achieved by providing compression and vibration sensing and in-app data analytics to keep record and trend of body fat unlike existing body fat products such as Skinfold calipers, Bioelectric Impedance Scales, and MRI Scans.

What does your current job role entail? What projects are you working on at the moment?

Currently, I am working on developing my start-up called GKAWeartech, a technology sourcing, and development company. We aim to provide the best technical textile solutions to Protech, Sportech, Meditech, and Agrotech industries through international technical collaborations. As a textile technologist and an early-stage entrepreneur, I am looking to raise funding and connect with mentors in the textile industry and I cannot think of a better platform that WoW to meet like-minded women. 

How long did it take you to be where you are now?

It has been about 3-4 years – I am just starting out in the Technical Textile Industry. However, I have had experience working with companies like Spanx in Atlanta, Georgia, and Material Connexion at Sandow in New York City which has contributed immensely to my industry experience while in college. 

What was the biggest obstacle?

The biggest obstacle has and continues to be the steep learning curve of integrating technology with textiles. The kind of startup space I am interested in requires high levels of expertise in R&D and Product Development as well as collaborations with Textile and Material Scientists. Especially when it comes to developing solutions for Protech (defense textiles) and Meditech (medical textiles) industries, following the right standards and testing protocols could be tricky but I am excited to on this challenge under GKAWeartech.

What are your biggest achievements to date?

Yet to come ☺ 

What does the #WomenInTech movement mean to you? What are the challenges of being a woman in wearable tech / STEM?

WomenInTech to me is achieving gender equality at the core of the tech industry. A lot of times, tech is just restricted to someone who can code which narrows down the other STEM fields women are part of or an in fact are leading. I feel the “technology” word should be redefined. Expertise in online business models, digital marketing, e-commerce, new media, social media strategy, gadgets, and IT infrastructure are all essential to the technology ecosystem. At the same time,  as more and more industries step into the digital age, tech seems to imbue every part of our economy which makes it even more essential to empower female entrepreneurs to come up with unique solutions to new problems.

In your opinion, what will be the key trends in the wearable tech and STEM industry in the next 5 years and where do you see it heading?

I can definitely see programmable and adaptive materials dominating the wearable tech space in the coming years. There is already a lot of buzz and academic research taking place at universities with a focus on shape changing polymers and phase changing materials. Another trend I have observed from my research experience is prosthetics becoming more intelligent which will enable limbs to become more intuitive such as responding to nervous system or brain signals. Another possible trend is 3D printing of human tissue or potentially implantable medical textiles. These trends combined could completely revolutionize the world of health and wearable tech.

Who are your 3 inspirational women and / or businesses in wearable tech and / or STEM?

I absolutely love Sara Blakey (Spanx founder) – I also got to intern at SPANX the summer after my sophomore year. You can check out my picture with Sara on my website. I am highly inspired and motivated by Madison Maxey and her company Loomia where she is creating e-textile circuits and revolutionizing the future of textiles. Emily Weiss of Glossier has also done such an amazing job of creating an outstanding brand image and achieving success in a highly competitive industry of cosmetics and skin care.

Follow Gunikka’s updated and projects on her website and connect with her on her LinkedIn!

This interview was conducted by Marija Butkovic, Digital Marketing and PR strategist, Forbes contributor and founder and CEO of Women of Wearables. She regularly writes and speaks on topics of wearable tech, fashion tech, IoT, entrepreneurship and diversity. Follow Marija on Twitter @MarijaButkovic.