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Self-healing, conductive gel could redefine soft robotics
July 1st, 2023
An external strip of the gel connects the battery to the motor on this soft robotic snail. Photo: Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering A new material could help produce self-healing, conductive robotic devices that are also soft. Developed by a team of scientists at Carnegie Mellon University, the substance consists of a gelatinous polyvinyl alcohol-sodium […]
Hardware prevails through travails
June 1st, 2022
A vast array of fasteners is on display in Lowy Enterprises’ showroom. The company stayed open during COVID as an essential business, sourcing components for masks and related medical items and supporting many ancillary areas at that time as well. Photo: Lowy Enterprises Inc. COVID-19 battered economies and companies worldwide, with few industries spared its […]
Pleased to meet you
November 1st, 2021
First things first. As Mick Jagger once famously sang, “Please allow me to introduce myself.” If I just planted an earworm in your head, I apologize. My name is Tim Goral and I’m the new senior editor at Specialty Fabrics Review. I come to Industrial Fabrics Association International from a long career in business journalism, […]
Pandemic demand drives shade market
February 1st, 2021
While 2020 started as a disaster, pandemic-related business picked up substantially as the year went on. Fabric manufacturers such as Glen Raven Custom Fabrics LLC were among companies providing shade products, like the Sunbrella® fabric for these shade structures in Miami, Fla., as restaurants moved to outdoor dining. Photo: Glen Raven Custom Fabrics LLC. For […]
Highlights of the 2020 Smart Fabrics Summit
July 1st, 2020
The industry meets virtually to discuss innovations,cybersecurity and collaboration. by Janet Preus The Smart Fabrics Summit, presented by the U.S. Department of Commerce in collaboration with Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), was held virtually this year. Its speakers covered a range of topics, with special emphasis on cybersecurity and collaborative partnerships. From innovation to commercial […]
Working innovation: all successful companies innovate to grow, but each approach is unique
January 1st, 2019
If there were a formula for writing a hit song, we could all do it. Efforts have certainly been made to figure out just what’s required to reach the top of the charts, but there simply isn’t a single defined path that can be taken to ensure musical success. In manufacturing, businesses that look to […]
Early adopters affect product development
November 1st, 2018
IoClothes describes itself as “A Community Fusing Tech & Textiles™” that exists to support those who innovate in the smart textile industry by providing information and helping them to establish the right connections to move forward. Managing director Ben Cooper says, “About 30–40 percent of the [textile] industry has a warm-to-hot interest in innovation—new processes, […]
Mousetrap to market
November 1st, 2018
"It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed." ~Charles Darwin We’ve reached my annual time-travel episode, at least in terms of my message to you this issue, which will be written before IFAI Expo but read after the show. Sometimes […]
The way forward with geosynthetics in the US Army Corps of Engineers is focus of plenary at GeoDallas
October 17th, 2018
Jeb Tingle, senior research engineer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Miss., delivered the plenary address at GeoDallas on Oct. 17 on “Advancing the Nation’s Infrastructure: The USACE Role.” “There’s a big role for research and innovation,” Tingle said. “Doing business as usual won’t give […]
Success: customer-centric innovation
June 1st, 2018
If your business proposition is innovative, your ultimate goal has to be ‘The customer always thinks that WE are right.’ ~Richard Branson Back in February 1997, before my editorial advent at IFAI, the Industrial Fabric Products Review cover was graced with a simple shot of a computer, in ominous dark purple and glowing green […]