Nonwoven innovations

Lubbock, USA: Status of advanced textiles sector and innovations in the field will be featured at a forthcoming conference. The Nonwovens Engineers and Technologists division of TAPPI will organise Innovative Nonwovens Conference (NETInc) in Charlotte, NC from April 16 through April 18, as part of the leading paper conference PaperCon of TAPPI.

This year’s event is probably the first one where all four leading textile associations like, TAPPI, Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), IFAI and AATCC are being represented.

In commenting about the exciting programme this year, Gaurav Pranami, Vice President of Research & Development, Imbed Biosciences stated, “I have been a regular attendee at NETInc for several years because it is wonderful program that allows us to stay abreast of the latest technological advancements in the field. That said, this year’s program is particularly exciting because it will bring together all the major movers and shakers of the field like never before.”

Given the recent tariff battles between United States and China, the industry would be keenly interested to know the status of nonwovens and advanced textiles sector. Dave Rousse, President of INDA and Jeff Rasmussen of IFAI will be presenting keynotes on the future and current status of advanced textile sectors.

The conference will focus on key themes such as nonwovens in biomedical applications, new sustainable technologies such as atmospheric pressure plasma which could be of use to functionalize and develop new textile products, to name a few.

Interesting topics such as innovation pathway, academia-industry interaction, human centric approach to develop innovative products will find place in the conference. One such paper will focus on nonwoven military wipes and the commercialization pathway adopted by Chantilly-based First Line Technology, LLC.

Several papers will focus on sustainable products such as cotton nonwovens for oil absorption, soy-based materials, nano materials, etc. In a special session on sustainability, Jesse Daystar of Cotton Incorporated will present an interesting paper on science-based approaches to sustainability.

The nonwoven conference will have a 2-hour tutorial on nonwovens, which will surely be of benefit to newcomers to the field. The attendees will have an opportunity to tour the Textile Technology Center at Gaston College.