Specialty Fabrics Review November 2019 - 48

IFAI EXPO 2019

ADVANCED TEXTILES

ew products, new markets, new theory, new applications,
new opportunities and a drive to standardization and
commercialization: Dozens of educational opportunities
in advanced textiles markets were spread over the three days of the
show, in additional to a full afternoon on Tuesday as part of the
pre-show events. The Advanced Textiles portion of IFAI Expo this
year included educational sessions, show-floor "campfire" sessions
and demonstrations; hundreds of exhibitors-many of them part
of the advanced textiles industry-also offered plenty to see on
the show floor.

ATP ACTION AT EXPO

dvanced Textiles Products (ATP), a division of IFAI, works
to keep members informed about trends, innovations and
opportunities through education and member programming
throughout the year. In addition to focused programming at
IFAI Expo, the Smart Fabrics Summit, in partnership with the
U.S. Dept. of Commerce, offers an intensive conference on
emerging trends in research, technology and public policy. The
next event will be held in Washington D.C., April 16-17, 2020.
(See www.smartfabricssummit.com.)
This year's open meeting at the show was led by its new
chair, Chris Semonelli, vice president, sales and marketing for
E-Squared, Newport, R.I. Semonelli expressed the particular
need to reach young people to interest them in the business of textiles. "We have a lack of a pipeline in our industry," he added. ATP
has 200 members "and people from all facets of the industry," and
offers real opportunity for young people as they prepare for their
future industry careers.

SUCCESS IN MILITARY BIDS

he U.S. government is the largest buyer of goods and
services in the world, creating opportunities for everyone,
said Jennifer Fennell, CPM, director of procurement for Polo
Custom Products, Topeka, Kan. Fennell and Jeff Papalia, textiles
program manager for the National Industries for the Blind,
outlined the steps to successful military contract bidding.
Military contract bidding can look complicated when starting
out, Fennell said, but becomes easier as you become more
familiar with the application sites and military specs.
Papalia and Fennell walked attendees through the Federal
Business Opportunities (FBO) website, FedBizOpps.gov. Searches
can be set up, saved and scheduled by key word or key words;
"Quick searches" can be run without logging in, but there are
numerous benefits to creating an account, according to Papalia.
He also recommended setting up multiple searches to avoid
missing opportunities.

48 REVIEW NOVEMBER 2019

Textiles' critical role
in NASA's missions

ASA was among the exhibitors that also provided
presenters at IFAI Expo 2019, where NASA representatives
stressed the importance of textiles used in the International
Space Station (ISS) and for future space missions.
Molly Harwood, soft goods designer at NASA, commented:
"The need for soft goods is everywhere." Everything that goes
to the ISS goes in a fabric bag. There's also a push to make fabric
products that can become something else once aboard the ISS,
and inflatable devices are especially useful.
The stakes, of course, are unusually high: materials, how
the end product is assembled, product life cycle and use must
all be carefully considered.
Challenges in zero gravity
One of the challenges in zero gravity is sweat. The careful
thermal balance that's possible on earth is interrupted in
space, because there's no convection (hot molecules rising and
cold falling). As Mary Hakam, technical advisor with NASA,
explained in a campfire
session, the moisture on the
skin simply stays there.
The Hohenstein Institute
is working on a solution for
the problem of sweat. Senior
scientific expert Jan Beringer
presented a session about
the results of the company's
experiments on the ISS.
NASA representatives provided
demonstrations of the Robo-Glove,
Spacetex-1 in 2017 and
with potential applications on earth in
Spacetex-2 in 2018 collected
construction, manufacturing, medical
data about three shirts made
uses and other market areas.
from fabric with proprietary
formulations. One shirt was found to be considerably
better at keeping the moisture off the astronaut's skin.
This technology may also be useful on earth for garments
in extreme environments.
More to come
The problem of odor has yet to be conquered. Evelyne
Orndoff, senior textiles engineer, NASA, also discussed the
issue of sweat and clothing-and odor control. "Polyester
always smells, treated or not," Orndoff said, so NASA is now
considering merino wool because "you buy a little more time."
Orndoff also described specific challenges related to NASA's
planned return to the Moon in 2024. The surface of the Moon
has a very fine dust-.05 microns-that she described as "tiny
razor blades that cut everything." Spacesuits for this mission
must be designed with textiles that can withstand this hazard,
an issue Orndoff puts in the hands of the experts. "We don't
make anything," she said. "We rely entirely on the textile
industry, and it should be that way forever."

http://www.smartfabricssummit.com http://www.FedBizOpps.gov

Specialty Fabrics Review November 2019

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