With a new name and renewed enthusiasm, Advanced Textiles Expo (formerly IFAI Expo) returned to Orlando for the first time since 2019. The show boasted the highest attendance since that pre-COVID show, boosted in no small part by the return of more international exhibitors and attendees.

It was late in the day, rain was threatening, and Edward Skrzynski needed to cover a boat that was on an elevator lift before the storm hit. All the available workers were out, so telling no one he was leaving, he headed out to handle the task alone. Just as he arrived, it started drizzling. Climbing onto the boat after removing his shoes, he made his way to the (freshly waxed) bow with the cover. Standing there, he lost his footing and started sliding toward the bow rail at a speed that made going overboard a certainty.

Every event offers opportunities and challenges, but this is especially true for those designed around a specific theme. On the one hand, having this kind of “outline” can be handy for kicking off the creative process. But on the other hand, themed events typically come with lots of moving parts, relying on details large and small to effectively deliver the experience. As a result, complex planning, tracking of deliverables and coordination with multiple vendors—as well as potentially lengthy installs and teardowns over sometimes difficult terrain—are generally required. In the following, we take a look at three very different themed events and what went into taking them from concept to reality.

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) are multi-component materials commonly used in hydraulic barrier systems in applications ranging from different types of landfills to waste ponds to additional liquid containment applications. Conventional GCLs consist of a thin layer of montmorillonite clay (i.e., bentonite) typically encased between two geotextile layers and in some cases an additional geofilm layer attached to one of the geotextile layers. Sodium (Na) montmorillonite (i.e., Na-bentonite) is the main clay mineral in GCLs manufactured and used in North America. Figure 1 presents a GCL installed along the slope of a bottom liner component in a municipal solid waste landfill.

In a world where consumers are concerned about sustainability, being environmentally conscious and seeking ethically sourced products, textile manufacturers need to ensure that companies throughout their supply chain aren’t engaging in misleading or deceptive environmental or sustainability claims, also called greenwashing. New laws may soon require those selling products in California or operating in New York to know more about the companies throughout a product’s entire supply chain than just its closest links.

NASA has a long history of backing the research necessary to deliver fabrics that could withstand the extraordinary rigors of Space. Evelyne Orndoff is the Soft Goods Development and Testing Lead, Crew and Thermal Systems Division, for NASA. In her presentation at the Emerging Technologies Conference at ATA’s Expo, she discussed these historical fabrics, explaining how and why some are still in use, and some are not.