Like many textile entrepreneurs, Amy Bircher got her start in the industry in a family business—even as she blazed her own path.

The Time Standards Manual was developed in 1996 by the Marine Fabricators Association (MFA), a division of the Industrial Fabrics Association International, to serve as a benchmark that shop owners can use to set fabrication times, with which they can generate competitive labor costs. The manual is an ongoing project that will grow and change organically in response to the ever-changing marine industry. 

If invitations create a first impression of an event, the tents and structures used at an event make a lasting impression. Here’s a look at four eye-popping tent projects that wowed clients, astonished event attendees, and had tent installation teams exclaiming “veni, vidi, vici!”

Coal combustion residuals (CCRs) are the byproducts from combustion in coal-fired boilers that are disposed in lined landfills when they cannot be used beneficially in other applications (EPRI 2009) (Figure 1). Land disposal of CCRs is regulated under the “coal ash rule” incorporated into Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (Federal Register 2015). The coal ash rule requires that coal ash disposal facilities be lined with a composite liner consisting of a geomembrane underlain by a compacted clay liner at least 2 feet (0.6 m) thick having a hydraulic conductivity no greater than 1 × 10-9 m/s (Bittner et al. 2019). Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) can be used in lieu of compacted clay liners provided that the GCL meets the equivalency criteria in the coal ash rule. This generally requires that the hydraulic conductivity of the GCL be less than 3 × 10-11 m/s when tested with the CCR leachate to be contained (Bittner et al. 2019).

Coolwave's shape-shifting technology creates a true bidirectional thermal textile. The Coolwave technology opens or closes the fabric's pores to cool or warm the wearer. Photo: Faye Levine, University of Maryland. Life on Earth—as we know it—would not be viable without managing the temperature levels of our personal climates, our environments and the perishable materials we...

New law will impact how textile companies do business with China.  by Nate Bolin On December 23, 2021, President Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) which will significantly raise the stakes for any company importing from or doing business with China. Most significantly, once the statute fully comes into effect...