Technical Textiles for Health and Environment
By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Professor, Texas Tech university, USA
(Lubbock, USA, March 14, 2023)--
Manufacturing sector is gaining attention worldwide due to the recent economic situation and supply chain issues.
Recently, United States,
United Kingdom and Australia formed the AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership,
which will boost jobs as well S & T partnerships in the pacific region.
India’s Air India’s proposed procurement of Boeing and Airbus planes will
create many manufacturing and R & D jobs in the United States and France.
These are some examples of the revival in manufacturing in developed nations.
All these projects involve some form of advanced textiles such as soft
composites, PPEs, etc.
Technical textiles sector
globally is a growth sector with an annual growth rate of above 5 percent. On
February 26, 2023, I had an opportunity to present the usefulness of advanced
textiles in enhancing human lives, saving the environment, and creating jobs to
a global audience at the recently concluded World Textile Conference-3
organized by the world’s largest professional association in the field of
textiles, Textile Association (India) [TAI].
The talk featured the
demonstration of a cotton-based oil absorbent and emphasized the importance of
developing value-added textiles to enhance human life and protect the environment.
I pitched the concept developed by U.S. Department of Defense that involves 4S
for the growth of the industry: Sensing; Shaping; Sustaining and Shielding
(Growing). The sector can sense the need of technologies and products, map the
requirements, build, and grow. There is a need to involve more sustainable
products and processes to combat global warming.
There is more work to do in
the technical textiles sector to develop technologies and products in a
cost-effective way to include sustainable aspects. Developing economies need
marketing help in this sector.
In the audience were Tony
Fragnito, President of USA-based INDA, Dr. Bryan Haynes, Chairman of the Board
of INDA-USA. Dr. P R. Roy, former Group CEO of Arvind Group, Dr. Jaywant
Irkhede, Department of Trade and Industry, Republic of South Africa, the office
bearers of Textile Association (India) and many other participants representing
all walks of the textile industry from fiber to fashion.
The conference attracted
over 800 participants who were from India, USA, Germany, Switzerland, South
Africa and Uganda.
The talk can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ulh-gvUGOQ
Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, PhD,
CText, FTI (UK), FTA [Honorary] (India), TAPPI Fellow (USA)
Professor, Nonwovens &
Advanced Materials Laboratory
Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, TX, USA
E-mail: s.ramkumar@ttu.edu
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