Valeria Ortiz
MIT Department: Media, Arts and Sciences
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Dava Newman
Research Supervisor: Ganit Goldstein
Undergraduate Institution: Pennsylvania State University
Website:
Biography
Valeria Ortiz is a senior at Penn State University, graduating in December 2025 with dual degrees in Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering with an International Engineering certificate. She is currently a research assistant for Dr. Jonas Rubenson in the Muscle Function andLocomotion lab, where her honors thesis explores the effects of exercise on bone development.Valeria is very engaged with the Penn State Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers chapter, and has particularly enjoyed contributing to organizing STEM outreach programs for K-12 students.She has participated in diverse internships from research at the Mechanobiology Institute in Singapore to engineering roles at Boeing, including design and experimental flight test operations. These experiences, combined with her passion for human spaceflight, have fueled her interest in developing biomedical countermeasures to protect astronaut health during space missions. She hopes to continue contributing to space medicine and research that bridges engineering, physiology, and exploration
Abstract
Mechanical Testing of Spun Fibers and Strain-Field Visualization of a Wrist Cuff Prototype for Mechanical Counter-Pressure Space Suit Development
Valeria Ortiz1, 2, 3, Ganit Goldstein4, Dava Newman3, 5
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University
3Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
4Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
5MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The spacesuit worn by astronauts during spacewalks, the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), utilizes gas pressurization for protection from the vacuum of space, resulting in limited flexibility, reduced mobility, and significant mass (~160 kg). The MIT BioSuitTM design offers an alternative approach: mechanical counterpressure (MCP), providing a second-skin suit using 3D knitting with local fabric control for pressurization directly on the skin. A challenge remains in identifying a textile that can maintain applied pressure of 30 kPa (4.3 psi) custom tailored to anatomical requirements of the body, as an astronaut performs dynamic movements during extravehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalks. Here, we perform Instron tensile testing of Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE), a high-strength material, in various spun fiber configurations. The findings quantify effects of ply number and twists per inch (TPI) on load bearing capabilities. Concurrently, we investigate the strain field of an MCP wrist cuff prototype during motion using Digital Image Correlation (DIC). We aim to capture high-resolution strain patterns (near 1mm2) to inform best-fit knit structure design. Both tensile testing and strain mapping provide a complementary framework for achieving equi-circumferential pressure on the skin, optimizing region-specific material selection for next-generation spacesuit designs for exploration of the Moon and Mars.