Gore Industries started (and still is) as wire manufacturer for the communications industry. The initial development for what we now know as Gore-Tex was for the insulation between center and braid in Coaxial Cables to increase velocity factor to reduce loss. There is a very good article in Microwave Times about 8-10 years ago that give the entire product development along with the spin off Gore Textiles (Gore-Tex) which lead to the growth and expansion in other industries besides communications. This development is still important today for all communications as COAX cable is still very much in use and the highest performance depends on velocity to keep loss down.
Velocity Factor is the speed at which the signal travel through the cable compared to the speed of light.
It is amazing how seemingly un-related industries are actually related.
www.bbc.com
