Features

Wearable devices for monitoring or improving health or that strive to improve the performance of athletes continue to proliferate, but have still to capture the imagination of the mass market, argues Adrian Wilson, who presents examples of the kinds of developments he thinks the smart textiles industry needs to focus on if this barrier to acceptance is to be surmounted.

Nick Butler accepted Technical Absorbents Ltd’s invitation to visit its production facilities for superabsorbent fibre, and learn more about the company’s ambitions, in particular its plans for the recently installed needlepunch nonwoven line.

On 18–22 May 2015, Cologne, Germany, hosted the largest FESPA Global Expo to date with exhibitors displaying the latest printers and technologies in order to attract a record-breaking number of visitors from around the world. Niki Tait reviews highlights from among the exhibits relevant to technical textiles.

In April 2014, the Federation of European Screenprinters Associations (FESPA) began a major global survey, called Print Census, of the industrial print industry, concluding its research just before and announcing the results during the latest edition of its principal exhibition, FESPA 2015 Global Expo, which was held in Cologne, Germany, on 18–22 May 2015.

If the consumer desire for groundbreaking wearable technologies has at times been questioned, the crowdfunding site Kickstarter offers some pretty concrete reassurances, reports Adrian Wilson.  At the same time, there are few guarantees for investors.

While there is a lot of publicity regarding the growing use of carbon fibre in cars⁽¹⁾, the automotive market has a long way to go to catch up with the biggest user of the material—the aerospace and defence sector. Joining our team of regular contributors, Composites Editor Amanda Jacob summarizes the findings of the latest report on the global markets for carbon fibre and carbon composites.

Wearable technologies based on e-textiles were highly prominent at Techtextil 2015, held in Frankfurt, Germany on 4–7 May, and notably, two of the six Innovation  Awards presented by organizer Messe Frankfurt during the show went to partners of Forster Rohner  Textile Innovations.

The extension of Techtextil to four days gives visitors more opportunities to see the plentiful innovations exhibited; Editor Nick Butler picks his highlights of those that involving developments with fabrics.

Underpinning much of the commercial innovation exhibited at Techtextil is an infrastructure that supports the industry: a flourishing research base; independent testing centres; international standards; the means to assure quality.

Techtextil has grown continuously during the lifetime of this magazine, as has the importance of high-performance applications for nonwovens. Another record-breaking exhibition provides plenty of evidence to support both these statements.