Monday 24 September 2012

Dornbirn 2012: Communicating the Future of Man-made Fibers

A press release from the Dornbirn organisers follows.  Summaries of about a third of the papers of most interest to our readers will be posted on this blog in due course.

 Fit for the Future

The new realignment of the congress has received a very positive echo from the DORNBIRN-MFC community. The future viability will be based on sustainability and innovation. Communication with the upcoming generations will secure the lead in know-how and lay the foundation for the next 50 years. The young people and the next generation of experts in the field of man-made fibers will be included in the event in a more intensive way. The number of participants are increasing and the list of participating countries is growing continuously. As far as lectures are concerned Japan, Spain and Portugal are strongly represented.

Enlarged Spectrum of Lectures

In the PLENARY SESSION Mr. F. Van Houte / CIRFS/EATP, Brussels did illustrate the challenges for the European Man-made Fibers Industry and their chances and opportunities in competition with international manufacturers. Overcapacities for certain man-made fibers, state subsidised prices for natural fibers, cost of energy and labour as well as legislative burdens in a more complex European context will be discussed along with the necessary strategies.

This lecture has been followed by the awarding of the PAUL SCHLACK PRIZE through Prof. Fuchs to Mr. Anurag Pandey. A short presentation of his work was done.

A highlight was the one hour presentation of Mrs. Sarah Volk /Zukunftsinstitut GmbH/ Kelkheim (D) on the topic of Mobility 2050 – Trend and Scenarios.
Against the background of growing cities, increasing traffic and the resulting damage to the environment the question must be raised how future mobility will have to be designed. In 2050 cities will not look for the maximum speed of a transport vehicle that can be reached but the situation-related best choice of a vehicle for transportation.
A very promising lecture was held by Mrs. Prof. Müller /Hochschule Niederrhein / Mönchengladbach (D) on the topic of sustainable procurement of clothing and textiles under marketing aspects. Global expansion of consumer-goods can only compensate in a limited way for the decrease in purchase-power of the fashion market. New target groups have initiated a trend towards sustainability and the question where, how and when consumer good are being manufactured can be dealt with more profoundly by social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The continuation of the sustainability movement, examining all influential factors of modern life by design, architecture, media, life-style, internet communities, fair trade, globalisation etc. will become a determining factor in strategic concepts of the fashion industry. Possible approaches of the textile and garment making industry has been shown.

The plenary lectures in the morning did end with a POSTER SESSION, where 6 students did present excerpts from their works:

Ms. Alexandra Widicker, Hochschule Niederrhein, Mönchengladbach (D)
“Antibacterial Finishes Based on Quaternary Ammonium Compounds”
Mr. Bastian Baesch, Institut für Textil- und Verfahrenstechnik ITV Denkendorf, Denkendorf (D)
„Development of Advanced Sensory, Indicatory and Actor Functionalities for Hybrid, Intelligent Textile Construction Elements”
Mr. Martin Hild, TU Dresden, Institut für Textilmaschinen und Textile Hochleistungs-werkstofftechnik (ITM), Dresden (D)
“Textile Chitosan-Hybrid-Scaffolds for Hard-Tissue Regeneration”
Ms. Tanja Klietzing, Institut für Textiltechnik der RWTH Aachen (ITA), Aachen (D)
“QualiVlies – Comparison of Subjective and Objective Quality Evaluation of Nonwovens”
Ms. Marina Handel, Hohenstein Institute, Bönnigheim (D)
“Synthesis of Biopolymer Fibres and Promotion into Artificial Fat Tissue Using Human Stem Cells”
Ms. Annett Schmieder, Sächsisches Textil-Forschungsinstitut e.V. (STFI), Chemnitz (D)
“Embroidery Technique for Technical Applications and Rapid Prototyping”
The presentations will be chaired by Prof. Hilmar Fuchs.

The lecturers were available for individual talks in more detail in the exhibition area of the foyer.

As it is impossible to comment on all 100 highly qualified individual lectures we can only draw your attention to a few presentations. Within the topic FIBER INNOVATIONS we should like to mention the presentations from Teijin Fibers, Osaka (J) about the industrial application of polyester nanofibers, Noyfil, Stabio (CH) about yarns from recycled polyester and cornleaf in PLA, Brochier Technologies, Villeurbanne (F) about smart and innovative lighting textiles (with first-time exhibition of a textile screen), the Ningbo Institute of Materials Science and Engineering (CN) about 100% biobased and degradable PHBV / PLA fibers. A lecture form the Istanbul Technical University (TR) discussed the design of photovoltaic fibers with vacuum-free techniques for power generating textiles. CeNTI, Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Textiles / Famalicao (P) presented a lecture about high performance fibers for high demanding applications. Kelheim Fibres (D) gave an overview about the further specialization in the field of viscose fibers and the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) RWTH Aachen (D) talked about the actual market and development trends in carbon fibers.

Within the topic FIBERS AND TEXTILES IN AUTOMOTIVE the VDA did present a report about the market development for automotive and was at the same time holding its annual meeting of the working group textiles in automotive in Dornbirn. The company Johann Borgers, Bocholt (D) did report about the functionality and possibilities for recycling of composites in automotive. Further 18 highly interesting presentations underlined the actuality of this sector.



On the topic of UNCONVENTIONAL FIBER APPLICATIONS we want to point out a lecture of the National Nanotechnology Center, Pathumithano (Thailand) about the potential use of TiO2 nanofibers with a coating of nanosilver and antimicrobial and self-cleaning properties for the elimination of toxic substances. Lenzing AG did report about their new TENCEL®FCP high performance fibers for concrete and plaster application. Further 14 presentations did deal with innovative findings and new fields of application.

Within the topic MEDICAL APPLICATIONS the technical university of Dresden did report about the cooperation with specialised institutes and hospitals on the development of chitosan-fibers for biomedical and technical applications and Asahi Kasei Fibers / Nobeka, Miyakazaki (J) presented a lecture on artificial blood vessels using ultrafine polyester fibers. Lenzing Plastics, Lenzing (A) presented possibilities for the use of PTFE fibers in textile and medical applications. Further 4 lectures presented other interesting applications.

The topic TECHNICAL NONWOVENS started with a 1 hours market report, held by PCI Fibres, Mayfield (GB) about the long-term direction of fibers demand and implications for the near-term followed by other 8 presentations about innovative fibers for the end-use nonwovens.

EU RESEARCH PROJECTS were represented with 4 lectures, reaching from temperature-regulating fibers, polysaccharide applications in textiles, insect-repellents to biobased fiber-reinforced polymers for technical applications.

For more information about the various lectures please visit our homepage www.dornbirn-mfc.com

Further Cooperations Planned for 2013

Currently we are negotiating a further clustering around DORNBIRN-MFC. We have established very promising contacts to roof organisations, universities and research centers that will guarantee the highly innovative, continuous expansion of the DORNBIRN-MFC communication platform.

Preview of the Main Themes for the 52nd DORNBIRN-MFC 2013

The next DORNBIRN MAN-MADE FIBERS CONGRESS (DORNBIRN-MFC) will take place from 11 – 13 September 2013. The following main themes will be included

  • Bio-polymers and Bio-technology
  • Fiber Innovations (Filaments)
  • Man-made Fibers for Environmental Protection
  • Unconventional Fiber Applications (Composites)
  • Finishing
  • Sports- and Functional Wear
  • Market Overview India / Indonesia / Korea

In order to widen the spectrum of fiber related innovations in 2013 we have opened
a possibility for interested parties (mainly for those who do not enjoy a regular contact with us or our programme committee) to submit their proposals and ideas from now onwards.

Contacts are welcome under: office@austrian-mfi.at

We look forward to a vivid participation in the coming year

AUSTRIAN MAN-MADE FIBERS INSTITUTE (AUSTRIAN-MFI)
Congress Office / Convention Partner Vorarlberg
Römerstraße 2
6900 Bregenz
AUSTRIA
Tel.: +43 (0) 5574 54720
Fax: +43 (0) 5574 434434
www.dornbirn-mfc.com

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