Be confident in your curiosity.

As an International Baccalaureate (IB) student at George School, Saffron Buscemi ’22 learned the power in allowing herself to be curious about everything – and she continues to move through her education with this as a guiding principle.

“I made an LED dress for my IB senior exhibit,” she recalled. Merging what she was learning in robotics with her passion for painting and drawing, she was encouraged by teachers Brian Patton (Robotics) and Jō Adachi (Painting and Drawing) to execute her vision.

“I used the LED wiring to form a Saffron Crocus flower because I thought it would be cool to create a dress in the form of my namesake flower,” Saffron said. “Then I worked in the robotics lab to solder flower petals together and encase them with resin.”

These kinds of experiences at George School drew her to Drexel University, where she could pursue an interdisciplinary custom-designed major. Now in her third year at Drexel, she loves the unique challenges presented by the individual disciplines of fashion design, materials engineering and immersive media, all of which relate to her interest in smart textiles.

Saffron’s focus on fashion design gives her access to the Machine Knitting Lab, where she has developed the technical skills to operate a Shima Seiki knitting machine, which allows her to create knitwear in collaboration with the Center for Functional Fabrics, a private enterprise affiliated with Drexel.

“They focus on smart textiles, so I have been able to use a lot of their yarn,” explained Saffron. “I am currently working on a fire-resistant knitted garment with fire-resistant yarn. Next, I’m planning a conductive garment and then a garment with antimicrobial properties.”

Materials engineering is the most challenging of her three disciplines, but she appreciates the opportunity to push her academic limits.

“I leapt right into higher-level classes that I thought would be interesting,” Saffron said. “Last term, for example, I took a senior-level biomaterials class, and this term I’m in a graduate-level composites course. When I do well in these higher-level classes, I gain confidence. I wouldn’t have these opportunities in a traditional major.”

Immersive media unleashes creativity in coding for Saffron, with opportunities to explore digital fashion. “Digital fashion offers a zero-waste production process,” she explained. “I’m currently working on a project to produce fashion specifically for a video game that will make the world-building in it feel deeper. I’ve also worked with the Academy of Natural Sciences to create digital versions of their artifacts.”

Saffron was drawn to Drexel’s program because she is interested in the field of smart textiles. “I hope to integrate what I’ve learned in all three disciplines and apply it to biology to address multiple issues the industry grapples with.”

She is currently working in the Drexel Natural Polymers Lab, where she started off with the development of biopolymer-based nanofiber, electrospinning polymers into nanofibers. These can hold active bacterial agents that can help in healing processes and have applications in both filtration and healthcare. She also works with biocomposites in the lab.

“Composites are two discreet types of materials, chemically and physically,” Saffron explained. “When combined, they offer a different property, usually a matrix and fiber. Fiberglass is an example of a man-made biocomposite; a common natural biocomposite is bone. There are major applications in the medical industry relating to the creation of artificial bones.”

Next, Saffron has been selected for the 2025 DAAD Research Internship in Science and Engineering (RISE). She will spend her spring term on research co-op at Drexel and her summer term working in Zweibrücken, Germany at Hochschule Kaiserslautern to create digital fashion and virtual reality components for an immersive biking simulation.

As she did at George School, Saffron continues to weave a commitment to service into her work as well. Working with a group called ReWorn in the Department of Design and Merchandising, she helps to run a thrift store on Drexel’s campus collecting donated clothing across campus and redistributing it for zero or low cost. “Whatever we can’t distribute for second-hand use or upcycle, we have affiliations with different recycling companies to minimize garment waste,” she said.

In her continued commitment to life-long learning and remaining curious, Saffron has her sights on pursuing a PhD related to textile engineering after Drexel. “There are many programs in Europe that focus on smart textile research. I want to pursue greater research, whether in academia or in the private sector. I want to be at the forefront of commercially viable products.”