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The AATCC Future Leaders Award was presented to Ashley Handley, Heather Johnson, Katelyn Lee, Bryan Ormond, Tyler Pickett, and Morgan Schanski on March 12, 2020 at the International Conference held in Greenville, S.C.
The Future Leaders Award recognizes promising young professionals in the fields of textiles, apparel and related material sciences. Nominees for the award must be AATCC members who are 39 years old or younger and actively engaged in the greater textile or related industries. They must display leadership skills and have a history of service to AATCC or the greater textile and related industries.
Ashley Handley has been a member of AATCC since 2017. She is project specialist, UL Retail and Industry in Arkansas. Prior to this, she served as production supervisor with Consumer Testing Laboratories where she was promoted to a textile engineer role under the Regulatory Compliance and Technical Support team. Handley attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. She has served as the AATCC Ozark Section Treasurer since 2019.
Heather Johnson has been a member of AATCC since 2016 and has been involved in the AATCC Student Chapter at North Carolina State University since 2014. Johnson currently is a colorist with American & Efird, an Elevate Textiles company, in North Carolina. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Polymer and Color Chemistry in 2016 from NCSU. She currently serves on the Executive Committee on Research.
Katelyn Lee has been a member of AATCC since 2008. She is textile chemist at Cotton Incorporated in North Carolina. Lee previously served as research assistant and later specialty applications chemist at Cotton Incorporated. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a BS in Polymer and Color Chemistry. Lee has held the role of Committee Chair for AATCC RA80 as of 2016.
Bryan Ormond has been a member of AATCC since 2006. He is assistant professor at the Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Fiber and Polymer Science, and a BS in Polymer and Color Chemistry (ACS certified). Ormond has been a voting member of CS75, Young Professionals Committee and RA31 Antimicrobial Activity Test Methods, since 2019. He also has served as AATCC faculty advisor for the NCSU Student Chapter since 2018. Currently he serves as an associate editor for the AATCC Journal of Research.
Tyler Pickett has been a member of AATCC since 2010. He is senior laboratory specialist at adidas in Oregon. Pickett holds a Master of Science in Textile Chemistry and a BS in Polymer & Color Chemistry from NCSU. He was a graduate research assistant within the Textile Protection & Comfort Center at NCSU prior to joining adidas. Pickett has served as Committee Chair of RA75 since 2018
Morgan Schanski has been a member of AATCC since 2015. She is project manager, consumer innovation at adidas in Oregon. Previously, Schanski was material engineer at adidas. She holds a Master of Science inApparel Product Development & Merchandising Technology and a BA in Apparel Merchandising, both from Central Michigan University.She was recently nominated for the adidas Creator’s Choice Award in Leadership & Collaboration.