Dates

• Existence: 1947-

Biographical Note

Frank Ko was a faculty member in the Department of Materials Engineering from 1984 to 2007. During that time, his research focused on textile structural composites for medical and industrial applications. More recently, his research in these areas has incorporated nanofiber technology. He served as advisor to undergraduate senior design projects and developed a Textile Materials Engineering option for graduate students. Ko was also the first director of the Fibrous Materials Research Laboratory (FMRL).

Ko was born in China on August 5, 1947. He married Catherine Lee, with whom he had two daughters.

He earned a BS in Textile Engineering at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science in 1970 and completed his MS in Textile Engineering (1971) and his PhD in Polymer Science and Textile Engineering (1977) at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Ko was inducted into the Phi Psi National Textile Fraternity.

Ko held research assistant positions at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and the Georgia Institute of Technology prior to completing his PhD. He then joined the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science faculty as an Assistant Professor in 1977 and was appointed Associate Professor there in 1982. He worked as an adjunct professor at Temple University in 1980 and in 1984 he joined the faculty of Drexel’s College of Engineering as an associate professor in the Department of Materials Engineering.

At the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, Ko served as advisor to textile engineering students, was Chairman of the Textile Engineering Curriculum Committee, advisor to the Textile Engineering Society, and served on the Academic Achievement program for Minority Students and the Independent Study Review Committee. In 1979, he was the College's first recipient of the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence.

In his first years at Drexel, Ko developed a Textile Materials Engineering option for graduate students in the Materials Engineering department, which included the creation of four graduate level. Ko also regularly taught undergraduate classes and served as the senior design project advisor for mechanical and material engineering students. He designed a program "Design and Manufacturing of Composite-Intensive Vehicles" and when a Drexel team entered the first GM SunRayce in 1990, Ko was one of the faculty advisors. He also served as advisor for BS and MS theses and PhD dissertations.

Ko has spent his career researching textile structural composites: methods for weaving fibers made of fabric or plastic into 3-D textile structures which can form complex shapes such as tubes and I-beams and which are lighter and stronger than metal. These structures have many biomedical, aerospace, and industrial applications, including synthetic joints, arteries, ligaments and tendons, and airplane wings and car components.

He has been a prolific researcher, serving as principle investigator on numerous projects, and funded by various federal agencies, including the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Naval Air Development Center (NADC), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), NASA, and the Department of Transportation (DOT); as well as funding from industrial sponsors including DuPont, Corning Glass Works, General Motor, General Electric, and Johnson and Johnson.

Ko served as the first director of Drexel's Fibrous Materials Research Lab (FMRL) which supported research by Drexel faculty and research engineers from all engineering departments, and provided undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on research experience by employing them as research assistants.

Ko was also core faculty of the Geosynthetics Research Institute and the Biomedical Engineering and Science Institute.

Ko has been a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and has served in various leadership positions in the ASME’s Textile Industries Division, including National Chairman in 1986. He has also been a member of the Fiber Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Chemical Society (ACS), the American Society for Engineering Educations (ASEE), the American Ceramimc Society (ACerS), the American Association for Defense Preparedness (AADP), the Society for the Advancement of Materials and Process Engineering (SAMPE), and the Metallurgical Society (TMS).

Ko was employed by Drexel until May 2007. As of 2022, he holds the position of Canada Research Chair Professor in Advanced Fibrous Materials and Professor in the Department of Materials Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is on the Research team of UBC’s BioProducts Institute.

Citation:

“Frank Ko.” BioProducts Institute, University of British Columbia. https://bpi.ubc.ca/people/frank-ko. Accessed July 14, 2022.

Curriculum Vitae of Frank Ko, 1987. Folder “Ko, Frank.” Biographical Reference Collection (UR.10.002) , Drexel University Archives.

Curriculum Vitae of Frank Ko, December 1989. Folder “Ko, Frank.” Biographical Reference Collection (UR.10.002), Drexel University Archives.

“Drexel to Set Up Fibrous Materials Center.” Chemical Engineering News [Washington, DC], May 7, 1984. Folder “Ko, Frank.” Biographical Reference Collection (UR.10.002) , Drexel University Archives.

“Drexel University Professor to Receive Fiber Society Award.” Southern Textile News [Charlotte, NC], September 10, 1984. Folder “Ko, Frank.” Biographical Reference Collection (UR.10.002) , Drexel University Archives.

“Frank Ko.” Faculty of Applied Science: Department of Materials Engineering, University of British Columbia. https://mtrl.ubc.ca/faculty/frank-ko/. Accessed July 14, 2022.

Haas, Al. “Students’ Dream Cars Foretell Automobiles of Plastic.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 22, 1988, pg. 1-F. Folder “Ko, Frank.” Biographical Reference Collection (UR.10.002), Drexel University Archives.

“MSE Alums Come Together for a Fond Farewell to Dr. Frank Ko.” Drexel College of Engineering News Archive. May 22, 2022. https://drexel.edu/engineering/news-events/news/archive/2007/May/mse-alums-come-together-for-a-fond-farewell-to-dr-frank-ko/. Accessed July 14, 2022.

Ko, Frank. “Fibrous Materials Research Center.” Circa 1986. Folder “Ko, Frank.” Biographical Reference Collection (UR.10.002), Drexel University Archives.

Public Relations, Drexel University. “Philadelphia Magazine’s ’85 to Watch in ‘85’ Feature,” Press Release. October 22, 1984. Folder “Ko, Frank.” Biographical Reference Collection (UR.10.002), Drexel University Archives.

Topics

• Engineering -- Study and teaching
• Engineering -- Research
• Drexel University -- Faculty

Found in 13 Collections and/or Records: