Ms Eva Wingerath

Research Assistant

Nominated by ITA Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University

Thesis: Life Cycle Assessment and Evaluation of Composite Pressure Vessel End-Of-Life Recycling

Eva Wingerath earned a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. During her studies, she gained work experience in aerospace and automotive projects. Currently, she works as a Satellite Systems Engineer for an Australian start-up, where she contributes to the development of a 100 kg satellite.

Ms Maryam Sodagar

Doctoral Researcher

Nominated by ITA Institut für Textiltechnik der RWTH Aachen University

Thesis: Banana Fibre as a Sustainable and Renewable Resource for Reinforcement of Polylactic Acid

Maryam Sodagar is a doctoral student at Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen university in Germany. She holds a Master of Science in Textile Engineering. Her main research areas are semi-finished textiles for composite applications and sustainable natural fibre reinforced composites based on fibres derived from agricultural wastes.

Mr Philipp Benjamin Weigel

Student

Nominated by Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology (ITM)

Thesis: Numerical Simulation of the Structural and Pull-out Behavior of Parametrically Generated Profiled Carbon Polymer Yarns

Philipp Benjamin Weigel is a student at the Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, where he is currently finishing his Master's degree in Textile Machinery. His research focuses on the intersection of simulation and material development in the field of textile structures for construction applications.

Note: The winner will be announced on 8 June.

Mr Ahmad Ibrahim

Researcher Chemist, Holder of the Ecotextile Chair, Groupe CTT

Ahmad Ibrahim is Researcher Chemist at CTT Group and mainly coordinates R&D projects. Ahmad holds the Ecotextile industrial chair within the CTT Group. He has a PhD in physical chemistry, an engineering degree in formulation chemistry and a master's degree in innovative materials. During the various research projects, he has always favoured the shift towards the use of ecological, biosourced and/or biodegradable chemicals.

Ms Alexandra Glogowsky

Research Assistant, Research Institute for Textile and Clothing (FTB), Hochschule Niederrhein – University of Applied Sciences

Alexandra has been a research assistant at the Research Institute for Textile and Clothing since 2016, where she develops applications for 3D printed plastic / textile composites. Past projects focused on applications in technical textiles, ergonomics for protective equipment and smart textiles. Her current projects explore alternative application methods for textile membranes.

Dr Andre West

Associate Professor and Director of The Zeis Textiles Extension (ZTE), North Carolina State University College of Textiles

Dr Andre West is an Associate Professor and Director of The Zeis Textiles Extension (ZTE) at the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University.  His research focuses primarily on integrating technology into the textile and apparel industry. This encompasses 3D virtual garment creation and AI-driven generative design.

Ms Ida Alnemo

Head of Application & Sustainability, TreeToTextile AB

Ida Alnemo is Head of Application & Sustainability at Tree to Textile, responsible for leading the strategy for down-stream operations for application developments. Ida has a bachelor in Textile technology and more than 20 years’ experience in quality and sustainability related tasks in the textile apparel industry, both on a strategic level and hands on with root cause analysis on site in the supply chain.

Ms Lea Zimmermann

PhD Student, German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research

Lea Zimmermann is a doctoral fellow of the Ingeborg Gross Foundation. Her scientific focus has been on the functionalisation of technical textiles in fields like architecture and medicine. In her current PhD study, she investigates sustainable and energy-free cooling solutions based on radiative cooling technologies in connection with coated textiles.

Mr Lutz Walter

Secretary General, European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing

With over 20 years of experience working as the Director, Innovation and Skills, at EURATEX and currently the Secretary General of the European Technology Platform (ETP), Lutz has broad knowledge of the textile industry, technology trends and an unparalleled network of contacts in the European textile innovation eco-system.

Ms Luna Aslan

Co-Founder and Project Manager, NOOSA

Luna is a graduate in business engineering and international management. She is an entrepreneur and focuses on the development of NOOSA since 2019, producing bio-based textile fibres and recycling it at 100%. Her expertise lies in polylactic acid textile fibres, chemical recycling and circular practices across the textile industry.

Mr Martin Camenzind

Senior Scientist, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

Senior Scientist in the lab 'Biomimetic Mambranes and Textiles' of Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) since 1991. Electronics engineer with experience in smart textiles, textile-based sensors and physiological measurements. Basic and applied research projects for the development of textile-based sensors and smart clothing systems.

Dr Mario Stucki

CEO, dimpora AG

Mario studied chemical and bioengineering at the ETH Zurich. Following his Master's degree, he joined Prof. Stark's laboratory for his doctoral thesis, where they developed and patented the functional membrane and the template removal method. Together with Anna Beltzung, he incorporated dimpora in 2019 and has served as CEO since then.

Mr Philipp Huber

Scientific Assistant, ITA Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University

Philipp Huber is currently working at the Institut für Textiltechnik (ITA) at RWTH Aachen University. He conducts research on woven fibre-reinforced materials, with a focus on 3D-woven CFRP and preforms for metal-matrix composites. He has a major in aerospace engineering from Technical University of Munich, specializing in fibre reinforced materials.

Mr King Mukherjee

Member, Advanced Textiles Products Division Advisory Board, Advanced Textiles Association

Mr Mukherjee is a supply chain professor in the Global Business Leadership department at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, Minnesota, USA. In 2010, he co-founded Global Impex USA, an international textile distributor and sourcing specialist, a social incubator and entrepreneurial venture, providing his students with hands-on business experiences. He has over 20 years of textile industry experience with extensive business experience in 39 countries.

Mr Michael Korger

Research Associate, Research Associate, University Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR), Research Institute for Textile and Clothing

Mr Korger has a PhD in chemistry. He gained expertise in developing textiles using advanced and sustainable finishing materials and polymers. Main research areas in resource-saving textile functionalisation and innovative digital and 3D printing applications on textiles.

Professor Dr René Rossi

Head of Laboratory 'Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles', Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

Dr Rossi is head of the laboratory for Biomimetic Membranes and Textiles at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, and adjunct professor at the Department of Health Science and Technology at ETH Zürich. His research focuses on smart textiles, particularly for health applications.

Mr Axel Pieper

Chief Technology Officer, Brückner Textile Technologies GmbH & Co. KG

After completing his mechanical engineering studies at the Technical University of Munich and his MBA at Bradford University in Singapore, Axel Pieper took on various re-engineering projects at Pepperl & Fuchs in Singapore. Since 1999, he has been managing the German family-owned company Brückner Textile Technologies together with his wife Regina Brückner as shareholder and technical managing director.

Mr Bilal Bhatti

CEO, PaperTale Technologies AB

A Swedish company that has invented a disruptive blockchain-based technology for supply-chain-transparency of textiles & fashion products. Being a textile engineer, he has acquired over 20 years of combined experience in the textiles value chain and is deeply passionate about creating a positive impact on people and planet.

Dr Deepak Panghal

Assistant Professor & Co-Founder, Apparel 4.0 Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Dr Deepak Panghal is a faculty member at the NIFT- elhi, India. He has demonstrated an exceptional command of cutting-edge Industry 4.0 tools such as Additive Manufacturing, Mechatronics, IoT and AI applications to develop low-cost intelligent solutions for the apparel manufacturing industry. He has co-authored more than 25 research papers and holds 6 Indian patents, in addition to receiving INR 13 million in research grants. Dr Panghal was also honored with the esteemed Global Innovation Award in 2022 by the H&M foundation and is a co-founder of Apparel 4.0 Technologies Private Limited.

Mr Dulantha Balasooriya

Director of Business Operations, XdotO Concepts Private Limited

Dulantha is a founding member of XdotO Concepts Singapore. Currently he serves as the Director of Business Operations, helping numerous organisations successfully navigate in their Industry 4.0 transformation journey. Having a strong background in techno business strategy and leadership, he has a successful track record serving multiple clients across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. He has completed his Bachelor of Engineering from Western Sydney University, Australia.

Mr Falk Vespermann

Global Segment Manager Textile, Lenze SE

Falk Vespermann studied electrical engineering in Germany. Since joining Lenze 2000 in global sales, he became increasingly involved in the textile industry. Since 2015, Falk is the global segment leader of the focus industry textile committee and member of the VDMA textile association. During his career he became a passionate sparring partner in the textile transformation process.

Mr Gilberto Loureiro

CEO and Co-Founder, Smartex.ai

Gilberto Loureiro, CEO and Co-Founder of Smartex.ai, a company specialising in artificial intelligence for the textile industry. With a Master's in Physics Engineering, he is experienced in textile factory operations, consulting, and research. His mission is to create innovative technology for factories worldwide to produce with higher margins and zero waste.

Mr José Canga Rodríguez

Head of Sales, Dienes Apparatebau GmbH

José Canga is a chemical engineer who has been working in different positions at companies delivering turn-key plants for paper making and recycling, industrial wastewater treatment and disposal of hazardous weaponised chemicals and ammunition. Since 2020, he is working as Head of Sales at Dienes Apparatebau GmbH.

Ms Moran Levy-Finklshtein

Product Marketing Manager, Kornit Digital Ltd

Moran has a strong passion for product and program management and holds a MSc in Material Engineering. Currently serving as a Product Marketing Manager at Kornit Digital, Moran is responsible for making strategic business decisions related to the development of the company's upcoming mass customisation DTG product.

Mr Pierre Lanfer

Researcher, ITA Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University

Pierre Lanfer has a degree in mechanical engineering and is specialised in automation engineering of textile machines for staple fibre processing. He has a passion for the digitalisation of the whole textile process chain in order to exploit ecological and economical potentials.

Mr Shannon McCarthy

Head of Business Development, Datatex Consulting S.r.l.

With degrees in textiles and business studies, Shannon uses his knowledge and experience to improve processes and information systems within textile and apparel companies. Specialising in costing, supply chain planning and scheduling, he has worked with companies on all seven continents during his 25+ years with Datatex.

Dr Stefan Fliescher

Managing Director, Textechno H. Stein GmbH & Co. KG

Stefan Fliescher earned his PhD in physics and worked on various radio telescopes before joining the managing team of Textechno in 2015. He is heavily involved in the development of novel instrumentation techniques and accompanies the implementation of the OPC UA Companion Specification for fibre and yarn testing devices since 2019.

Dr Ir. Dirk Torfs

Chief Executive Officer, Flanders Make vzw

Flanders Make is the strategic research centre for the manufacturing industry in Flanders, and the reference centre for Industry 4.0 demand-driven research. Dr Tofts holds a Master in Applied Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering and a PhD in Applied Science from KU Leuven, and an MBA from Flanders Business School. He is a board member of VIL and OMC Turnhout.

Professor Geneviève Dion

Director, Center for Functional Fabrics and the Pennsylvania Fabric Discovery Center

Full Professor, Department of Design, Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, Drexel University

Professor Dion leads transdisciplinary teams to create textile devices through advanced manufacturing - new materials, tools, fabrication processes and products. Her research receives funding from private industry and US agencies. Prof. Dion holds a B.A. in Industrial Design from San Francisco State University and a master’s degree from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Professor Jonas Larsson

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Textiles, Engineering and Business, The Swedish School of Textiles

Professor Larsson, Associate Professor in Textile Management. His focus is on creating resource efficient value chains for textile products. This includes developing tools and processes for transparency, on-demand manufacturing, reuse and recycling, and regeneration of natural systems.

Dr Alan Hudd

Founder and CEO, Alchemie Technology Ltd

Dr Hudd has contributed to many advances in digital and inkjet printing over the last 30 years, with over 250 patents to his name. His career spans over four decades, including successfully commercialising industrial inkjet technology as a young rocket scientist for the MoD. Dr Hudd founded Xennia Technology in 1996, becoming the world's leading industrial inkjet business experiencing explosive market growth. In 2013, Dr Hudd founded Alchemie. 

Dr Andre West

Associate Professor and Director of The Zeis Textiles Extension (ZTE), North Carolina State University College of Textiles

Dr Andre West is an Associate Professor and Director of The Zeis Textiles Extension (ZTE) at the Wilson College of Textiles at North Carolina State University.  His research focuses primarily on integrating technology into the textile and apparel industry. This encompasses 3-D virtual garment creation and AI-driven generative design.

Mr Barry Tai

Senior Manager, Business Development, Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence in Design (AiDLab)

Mr Barry Tai is currently the Senior Manager of AiDLab.  His role is to support commercialisation of various projects developed from AiDLab.  He has been working closely with academics and industry in the innovation and technology sector (specifically textiles ) for over 15 years from R&D ideas to commercialisation.

Mr Bertram Seuthe

Global Business Development Manager, DyStar

During the period 1991-2003, Mr Seuthe held various positions in textile dyeing, finishing, and printing mills, such as dyehouse manager and production manager. At DyStar Colours Distribution GmbH, Germany, since 2003, he has held the position of global business development manager for Continuous Dyeing and CPB .

Dr Elizabeth Kirkwood

Graduate Research Assistant, North Carolina State University College of Textiles

Elizabeth Kirkwood recently earned a PhD in Fiber and Polymer Science from North Carolina State University. Her research focus includes the interaction between textiles and skin, mosquito-bite resistant knit structures, and manufacturing electronic textiles. She enjoys working with knitting machines and applying textile research to product development.

Mr Jayanta Sanya

Head of Technical Sales and Processes, WEKO and RotaSpray

Mr Sanyal has 25 years of experience in manufacturing denim fabrics in various mills in India, Belgium and Romania. Since January 2020, he is responsible in WEKO Group to develop and implement new sustainable textile dyeing and finishing processes with the use of rotor spray application systems.

Mr Josep Maria Serres

Head of Photonics, Advanced Manufacturing System Unit, EURECAT Technology Centre

Josep M. Serres has a PhD in Applied Physics. He is involved in artificial vision technology, applying intelligence algorithms for predictive detection detection to achieve zero defects quality control in manufacturing processes in Industry 4.0.

Ms Julia Van Der Sommen

Director, Pattern Room Sales Pty Ltd

Julia Van Der Sommen is a veteran pattern maker, with more than 30 years of commercial experience. After working with major brands in the UK and Australia, Julia established Australia’s leading development business, working with clients developing almost everything. With more than 9,000 developments completed, Julia’s experience is extensive.

Mr Justin Kühn

Research Associate, ITA Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University

Justin Kühn studied mechanical engineering. In his third year as a doctoral student, he is active in natural fibre extraction, pre-spinning and spinning, with a special focus on cotton & hemp processing.

Mr Ofer Libo

Senior Product Manager, Stratasys Ltd

Ofer is a Product Manager at Stratasys with expertise in high-definition, full color 3D printing technology for product designers. His B.Sc in Mechanical Engineering and M.Sc in Systems Engineering have enabled him to successfully combine both engineering and product worlds, resulting in the successful transformation of creative ideas into real life products that bring meaningful impact.

Ms Rahel Krause

Research Associate, ITA Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University

Rahel Krause studied mechanical engineering with a focus on textile technology at RWTH Aachen, Germany. She has been working as a research assistant at ITA in the FABRIC PRODUCTION department in the WOVEN FABRIC research group since June 2020 and is part of the PPE coordination team.

Mr Resul Istrefi

Founder and Managing Director, Swinsol AG

Mr Resul Istrefi has accumulated 15+ years of knowledge in the compact spinning sector. He has a clear mission for his company, which is, to strive to drive innovation in the field. We will revolutionize compact spinning worldwide with our mechanically based swiss compact systems in the upcoming years.

Dr Amanda C. Mills

Research Assistant Professor, NC State University

Dr Amanda C. Mills is a fusion designer and project coordinator in the Nano-EXtended Textiles (NEXT) research group within the College of Textiles at NC State University. Her focus is on developing innovative methods for electronics integration into textiles. She creates full system demonstration platforms to examine the impact of the textile on the device.

Ms Claudia van Bonn

Editor-in-Chief, DFV Media Group

Ms Claudia van Bonn graduated from Engineer Textile Technology. Her areas of expertise include fibre production, fibres, spinning, weaving, knitting, textile finishing, nonwovens and technical textiles. Some of the publications she works on are Man-Made Fibers International, melliand, Technical Textiles, nonwovensTrends and textiletechnology.net.

Mr Sébastien Paillet

President, Clubtex

Mr Paillet is the managing director and shareholder of BFG Group, a small group of companies in France specialising in recycling and manufacturing technical textiles aimed at thermal resistance for business to business applications. He is the president of Clubtex, the French association of technical textiles manufacturers with 80 members and 2.5 billion Euro turnover.

Ms Annabelle Georgina Hutter

Managing Director, Saentis Textiles Pte Ltd

As executive in her family’s company and founder of her own, Annabelle Hutter sees beauty in waste—specifically, cotton waste transformed into fabrics for Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and H&M. Using proprietary technology that recycles fabrics destined for landfill, Annabelle oversees production at Säntis Textiles. She has also developed and sustainably shaped her own company Born on Saturday’s lines of recycled totes, t-shirts and sweatshirts.

Ms Gabriela Maestri

Research Associate, German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research

Gabriela Maestri (M.Sc. Textile Engineer) was engaged in quality and economic solutions for garment’s manufacturing. She conducted research in smart textiles and sustainable developments for the textile industry for over 8 years in Brazil. Currently, she is focused on sustainability and circularity impact of garments through the supply chain.

Dr Gediminas Mikutis

Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Haelixa  AG

With over 8 years of experience in project management and IP generation, Dr Mikutis is focused on using DNA markers for environmental and product tracing. He is on the expert panel of the UN/CEFACT, working on supply chain transparency.

Ms Giorgia Lera

Research and Development Engineer, Lafer SpA

Giorgia Lera graduated in Aerospace Engineering. Over the past 12 years, she has been part of the Lafer SpA Research and Development team focusing particularly on Textile Finishing Machinery Innovation, Environmental Sustainability, Alternative Processes and the study of Best Available Technology (BAT) compliance.

Mr Hamza Zaidi

Vice President, Sustainable Business Opportunities, AMA Herbal Laboratories Private Limited

AMA Herbal is a world leader in natural dyes and the biggest manufacturer of natural indigo dye for textiles. His main work includes making the value chain of natural indigo more sustainable.

Dr -Ing. Mahmud Hossain

Research Associate, Institute of Textile Machinery and High Performance Material Technology, Tu Dresden

Dr -Ing. Mahmud Hossain research focuses are the modeling and simulation of spinning process as well as development of novel yarn constructions from recycled carbon fiber, metal staple fibers etc.

Ms Jeannie Egan

Master’s Student, Textile Chemistry, Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University College of Textiles

Jeannie Egan's research focuses on textile end-of-life sustainability solutions emphasising textile circularity and diversion of textile waste from landfills.

Ms Jennifer Thompson

Co-Founder and CEO, COLOURIzd Ltd

Jennifer Thompson is a highly accomplished textile expert, entrepreneur, and sustainability advocate with over 25 years of experience in driving new product development and innovation in the industry. As a co-founder of COLOURizd, she has been an integral part of the team driving radical innovation in textile coloration. COLOURizd is revolutionizing the wet processing phase of textile manufacturing, reducing water usage and energy consumption, and eliminating effluent. Her work embodies the power of radical innovation to create a more sustainable future for the textile industry. With her passion and expertise, Jennifer is an inspiration for those seeking radical solutions for radical results.

Mr Lon Negrin

President, CEO, Nano-Dye Technologies LLC

Lon majored in Chemistry at Washington University of St. Louis and achieved high honors. He joined Sigma-Aldrich Chemical after graduation. Subsequently, he moved to New York to enter his family's textile business. Lon became a turnaround consultant for large dye mills in Mexico. Lon founded Nano-Dye Technologies to stop pollution of dye mills through Cationic Chemistry and Dyeing Circularity.

Ms Maryam Sodagar

Doctoral Researcher, ITA Institut für Textiltechnik der RWTH Aachen University

Maryam Sodagar holds a Master of Science in Textile Engineering. Her main research areas are semi-finished textiles for composite applications and sustainable natural fibre reinforced composites based on fibres derived from agricultural wastes.

Mr Michael Colarossi

Vice President, Product Line Management, Innovation & Sustainability, Avery Dennison Corporation

As a Senior Executive in Avery Dennison's $1.2B Apparel Solutions division, Michael Colarossi is the driving force behind its culture of innovation, leading a global technical innovation team, whose products deliver double-digit revenue and enhance performance. Under his leadership, the organisation has adopted a strategic view, prioritising solutions that shape the industry’s future, while meeting rigorous compliance standards. 

Mr Edwin Keh

Chief Executive Officer, The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA)

Mr Edwin won the Medal of Honour in 2020 for his research work, one of the Top 50 Innovative Retail Leaders by Inside Retail Hong Kong. He holds multiple intellectual property rights which won global invention awards.

Ms Karla Magruder

Founder and President, Accelerating Circularity

Ms Karla Magruder has 40 years of global experience from fibre to finished garments. Her current role at Accelerating Circularity leads the organisation’s work in enabling the industry’s transition to textile-to-textile circular systems. She is currently a Textile Exchange Governance Board member and Gr3n Advisory Board member.

Mr Matthijs Crietee

Secretary General, International Apparel Federation (IAF)

The IAF represents the interests of apparel industry associations from over 60 countries. Mr Crietee has a master’s degree in International Economics and Economic Geography. Before he joined IAF in 2012, he was the Deputy Director of the Dutch fashion industry association MODINT.