According to Stephen M. Warner, president and CEO of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), “The rate of change and innovation in the technical textiles industry is outpacing the consumer awareness of applications, as well as the current standards and text procedures. There is a critical need for more substantive information exchange platforms that discuss the blending of technical textiles with other industry and disciplines such as medicine, electronics and construction.
“Thus, we are pleased to announce that we will continue to develop these platforms, locating IFAI Advanced Textiles ’10, June 16–17, 2010, in Paris,” Warner continued. “Based on the endorsement of an international audience and support from many prestigious European organizations for our first two conferences in Berlin and Brussels, we are confident the annual IFAI Advanced Textiles conference is viewed as the leading exchange platform for the technical textile industry.”
Advanced Textiles ’10 is the third of these specialized conferences, which promote international cooperation and partnerships between the U.S. and European technical textiles industry, including everything from nanotechnology, e-textiles, nonwovens, geosynthetics and many high-performance applications within biomedicine, green building and sustainable design, aerospace, automotive, sports apparel, military, safety, architectural shade systems, graphics and signage.
Clubtex, the leading technical textile association in France, will be the key supporting organization of Advanced Textiles ’10.
Warner added, “In these difficult times in the world economy we want to back up our industry and pave the way for new business opportunities by fostering targeted networking in professional application communities.” The uniquely open conference allows the top experts from different disciplines—both corporate and academic—to engage in lively exchanges and brainstorming, as well as identifying new business synergies, making the event worthwhile in identifying diverse new revenue-driving business partnerships.
The keynote speaker for the event will be distinguished European executive Frederique Mutel, General Manager, JEC, who will speak on the world markets of composites.
The Germany based agency IHofmann, which specializes in technical textiles and building up strategic alliances, is co-organizer, developing the concept and managing the conference. “The concept is to provide decision makers in the complex value chain of technical textiles the occasion to meet on a professional platform, getting inspiration, face-to-face contacts and networking opportunities in an inspiring ambiance,” said Dr. Isa Hofmann, CEO of IHoffman. “With Advanced Textiles ’10 we want to contribute to initiate new cross-sector innovation projects and comfort our industry to bank on the power of innovation.”