National Engineer Week: Forrest Sloan on VECTRAN™ Performance and Engineering for Critical Applications at Kuraray America

Engineered for strength, stability, and performance, VECTRAN™ supports some of the most demanding applications in the world. As Market Manager for VECTRAN™ at Kuraray America, Inc. (KAI), Forrest Sloan helps customers harness its capabilities in environments where reliability isn’t optional, it’s mandatory.

During #EngineersWeek, and in celebration of this year’s theme, #TransformYourFuture, Forrest shares what a career built on curiosity and materials science looks like in practice: turning advanced materials into real-world solutions that shape what’s possible today and help define what comes next.

Where It Started 
Forrest’s interest in materials started early, building downhill racers and pinewood derby cars and learning why some axles snapped and others held. By experimenting with different materials, he began to see how strength, durability, and directionality worked with different materials.

That curiosity carried him into a career in advanced materials and polymers, including graduate work in ocean materials, where he saw how metals corrode, fatigue, and fail in demanding environments. Today, Forrest applies that perspective to helping guide how high-performance fibers are used in critical applications.

Where Failure Is Not an Option 
VECTRAN™ shows up in places most people may never see: fiber-optic cables, robotic systems, medical devices, space applications, and even pop-up water barriers that protect city subways from flooding. Much of Forrest’s work focuses on helping customers maximize fatigue life in tension applications. “Simple concepts make a big difference,” he explains. “If you make a knuckle twice as big, you get 10 times the fatigue life from the cord running over it.” In robotics, that means artificial tendons performing millions of cycles without failure.

Doing More with Less 
“The challenge is efficiency, achieving more with same or achieving more with less” he says. Our VECTRAN™ technology possesses exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, this means engineers can reduce material use while maintaining or exceeding performance requirements. That translates to lighter systems, more efficient cable infrastructure, and longer-lasting components, outcomes that align with Kuraray’s commitment to products that serve both people and the planet.

Follow Your Curiosity
Forrest’s advice to the next generation is simple: start small and stay curious. As an active member of the ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE), Forrest has seen how involvement beyond the classroom accelerates learning. That’s why he encourages students to get involved early, turn theory into real-world application and ideas into impact.