The Paul Schlack/Wilhelm Albrecht Prize 2017 was awarded to two employees of ITA, RWTH Aachen — Dr Gisa Wortberg, ITA, RWTH Aachen (D): “Development of Polyethylene-based precursors for thermochemical stabilisation for carbon fibre production“ and Dr Andreas De Palmenaer, ITA, RWTH Aachen (D): “Determination of process parameters for continuous production of polyethylene-based carbon fibreâ€Â. More than a hundred top-class international expert lectures from academic research and industry turned this year’s Dornbirn MFC into something unique.
The approximate 50 per cent share of industry lectures was particularly high this year. Many interesting lectures were offered by Asia with a focal point on Japan, but also on China, Sri Lanka and Turkey. In addition to the excellent plenary speeches and expert lectures, the congress has been completed with three more panels, a forum and a workshop one day prior to the official opening this year:
- Workshop one-day before the opening of the congress was chaired by Syngroup Management Consulting (A) – Austria`s biggest industry consulting company focusing on “Circular economy: Textile and nonwovens waste, a threat or opportunity?†This subject was studied by a group of experts drawn from the fibre industry and downstream manufacturing stages, trading firms and, for the first time, waste management companies. IKEA and Adidas were represented as renowned brands and the EU Commission was represented by a high-level representative at the workshop. This unique event was jointly organised by Dornbirn-MFC in cooperation with CIRFS (the European Man-made Fibres Association), EDANA (the association of the nonwovens industry) and ISWA (the global association of waste management companies).
- Management talk on the opening day was moderated by Walter Woitsch of Syngroup Management Consulting (A) on the topic of “Marine Litter – a problem turned into an innovative opportunityâ€Â. Participants were Philipp Meister, Adidas (D); Hugo-Maria Schally, EU Brussels (B); Celine Dolan, Indorama/Wellman (IR); Wilhelm Rauch, IVC (D); Robert van de Kerkhof, Lenzing (A); and Franz Josef Radermacher, University Ulm (D).
- Panel discussion on “Fibres, textiles and nonwovens for sports and leisure wear†was moderated by Giuseppe Gherzi, Gherzi Consulting on “Sustainability and Performance – a discrepancy in this industry?†Participants were Kate Riley, Adidas (D); Dieter Backhaus, Invista (D); Robert van de Kerkhof, Lenzing (A); Ranil Vitarana, MAS Holding (Sri Lanka); and Rene Bethmann, Vaude (D).
- Panel discussion on “Fibres, textiles and nonwovens for protective applications“ was moderated by Isa Hofmann – IHOFMANN (D) on the subject of “The never-ending story of ultra- light and ingenious high performance features: What’s next?†Participants were Giovanni Henssen, DSM (NL); Oliver Spöcker, Lenzing (A); Evelyne Orndoff, NASA (US); Pierluigi Berardi, Nilit (I); Helmuth Zepf, PBI (D) and Mike Stanhope, Tencate (US).