He also noted that the association’s magazine, AATCC Review, is now available by subscription in print AND digital form. The magazine won another TABBIE Award for a feature article from Glenna Musante on Life-Saving Fibers, he added.

 

A new, responsible website (www.aatcc.org) has also been launched, he pointed out.

Hauser also relayed that two new books are well in the works: A Dyeing Primer, authored by Dick Aspland, and a new Analytical Methods book co-edited by Keith Beck and Jimmy Rodgers. The Dyeing Primer is expected to be published by year’s end, and Analytical Methods should be published next year, Hauser said.

 

Membership

 

The AATCC Membership Department, also under Thiry’s management, launched a new local section called the New York Metro Section. The old Metropolitan Section concentrated on dyeing and finishing, whereas this new section will primarily concentrate on C2C-related activities, Hauser said.

 

“We look forward to seeing new activities and programs from this section, which continues to receive a lot of support from Kanti Jasani, Adam Varley and Sean Cormier,” he said. “We were also able to change our bylaws and membership database programming to allow individuals to belong to any section they choose, or no section at all, depending on their personal preference, instead of automatically being placed in the section where they reside.”

 

The AATCC also contracted new membership representatives to assist in recruitment activities there. Last year, Jiping Wang became an AATCC membership representative in China with ZSTU University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Also last year, Amanur Rahman, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, became a membership representative and also serves as a test method trainer. Longtime AATCC membership representative Jayakumar Gopalakrishnan is in Mumbai, India, he added. The AATCC has also contracted membership representatives in Seoul, South Korea, with its colleagues at FITI, and in Lima, Peru, with its partners at Certintex. 

 

Manisha Patel is concentrating on visiting local sections and student chapters, in addition to her primary duties at the AATCC Technical Center, Hauser added. She has recently visited Philadelphia University, the University of Delaware, Florida State University, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia.

 

Patel, AATCC’s newest membership staff member, helped develop and launch the new C2C Student Merchandising Competition last fall.

 

“Many AATCC student members attend colleges and universities with textile merchandising programs, and this program, similar to our very successful C2C Student Design Competition, managed by Suzanne Holmes, will help attract new student members to AATCC,” he said. “Students will showcase their skills in business, marketing and merchandising by creating a business concept for a hypothetical new product line of an outerwear collection that includes one technology feature, in either the fabric selection (i.e. water repellency) or style (i.e. solar panels). Students will research and take inspiration from outerwear products and technologies currently in the textile and apparel market.”

 

Thiry has also recently made visits out west to Baylor University, FIDM, California State University Polytechnic and the University of California-Davis, Hauser added.

 

Education

 

A lot has also been accomplished in the education arena, led by Peggy Picket, with tremendous support from Kim Nicholson, Hauser pointed out. Early last year, a special testing workshop for 10 individuals from the China Testing Information Center in Beijing took place, he said. In October, the Chemical Applications Interest Group held a Moisture Management Symposium, chaired by Nelson Houser, jointly with the College of Textiles and TPACC at NCSU titled, “Enhancing Product Performance from Absorbency to Repellency” with 126 people in attendance, he said.

 

The AATCC also held its fourth seminar at the IFAI 2014 Expo in Minneapolis in October. The seminar, chaired by Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar of Texas Tech, was titled, “Functional and Nano Finishes for Industrial Textiles.”

 

For the first time, AATCC exhibited at SGIA’s 2014 Expo in Las Vegas and sponsored a technical session as well, Hauser said. Kerry King of Spoonflower Inc. presented “Digital Textile Printing – Technology, Processing, and Testing” on behalf of AATCC. King was asked to make the presentation on two separate days to accommodate a larger audience, Hauser added.

 

In August, the AATCC held another successful Color Management Workshop at its Technical Center, and in December, it had another full house and a waiting list for participants attending its Introduction to Textile Testing Workshop, conducted by staff, he noted. 

 

Meanwhile, the Executive Committee on Research recently approved policies and fees for onsite test method training, and just last month, Diana Wyman, AATCC’s new technical director, taught AATCC and ASTM test methods at a well-known textile knitting plant in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Hauser said. In April, Suzanne Holmes of AATCC and Wyman were to conduct similar training for a major garment manufacturer in Nashville, he added.

 

The AATCC continues to exhibit at other international events, Hauser reported. Last summer, Pickett and AATCC Executive Director Jack Daniels exhibited at ITMA-Asia in Shanghai, and Wyman and Pickett will participate in ITMA in Milan, Italy in November, he said.

 

“The association continues to have a presence in key international textile arenas, through our exhibiting, membership representatives, international symposia, quality control and publications sales, and through our online educational and training offerings,” Hauser said.

 

In addition to hiring Wyman to head the Technical Department, the approval of a new production dye lot of AATCC Blue Wool L2 was made available to the public last fall and has been included in the key lightfastness test methods, being capable of assessing both 5 and 20 AATCC Fading Units of light exposure, he continued. This massive project was begun by Lou Protenentis during his tenure as AATCC technical director, with tremendous help from Alfred So, Houser and Steve Simonson, acquiring the dye from China and making laboratory and production dyeings, respectively, he added.

 

Also, the AATCC continues to evaluate new international trainers, and in January, it had two new trainers from SGS in Hong Kong and Vietnam visit AATCC for training, Hauser noted.

 

“We now have 30 trainers conducting International Test Method Training courses for us on AATCC test methods, and some also on ASTM test methods,” Hauser said. “We are now working even more closely with ASTM, determining how to better leverage our technical offerings to the global textile community as we partner to maintain the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO/TC38-Textiles, now being chaired by Rich Slomko, after Bob Lattie’s many years of leadership.”

 

Last fall, working with the College of Textiles at N.C. State, the technical staff developed and launched an online series of AATCC test method demonstrations to complement its internet-based Textile Fundamentals Series, he said. This new offering provides immediate accessibility of test method training worldwide, 24/7. Also, Pickett has recently arranged for the Textile Technology Center in Belmont, N.C. to offer a selection of AATCC webinars and test method training videos to their trainees during the month of April, he added.

 

AATCC Foundation

 

The AATCC Foundation’s board of directors received a number of strong research proposals for this year’s AATCC Foundation Student Research Grant Program, Hauser reported, before thanking Yiqi Yang and the AATCC Foundation Student Research Review Board for their thorough reviews of these research proposals.

 

Other AATCC Foundation Scholarship awards offered this year will come from the Charles H. Stone Piedmont Section Scholarship, the Charles E. Gavin III Family Scholarship, the Color Solutions International Textile and Apparel Design Scholarship, the Metro Scholarship, the Nonwovens Institute Undergraduate Student Scholarship and new this year, the West Region Scholarship, he said. These six scholarship programs provide annual awards ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 to students studying textile sciences, textile chemistry, polymers, chemical engineering or textile design, depending on each scholarship’s criteria.

 

The foundation has also approved and launched a new AATCC Corporate Member Scholarship, eligible to children of AATCC corporate members attending a college or university with an AATCC student chapter, he added. The Piedmont Section has been awarding scholarships for many years, and again this year awarded six $3,000 scholarships to students, he said.

 

Other activities, including keynoter

 

The International Conference also included a number of other activities, including exhibits, poster sessions, the Herman and Myrtle Goldstein Student Paper Competition, the J. W. Weaver Paper of the Year Award presentation and numerous educational programs.

 

Kevin Myette, North American director at bluesign® technologies AG, Switzerland, keynoted the conference portion of the proceedings. He presented an informed overview of textile, apparel and chemistry sustainability. His company provides expertise and systems to improve sustainability in textile production.

 

Consumerism related to the apparel industry is booming, he said, noting that apparel and footwear contributed a record $361 billion to the U.S. economy in 2013 – a bigger contribution than new cars, alcohol, toys or practically any other industry.

 

He noted that recycling is up, but so isn’t trash. Meanwhile, consumers and citizens globally are growing in their awareness of the adverse effects the textile industry has on the planet, he said. They believe that companies, namely brands and retailers, must be accountable, he added.

 

“We call it sustainability,” Myette said. “Yes, it’s saving the planet. But when you reduce it down to business, it’s really good business.”

 

As such, accurate product footprint measurement is necessary, although “the complexity of what we’re dealing with is still evolving,” he said. “It’s a lot of hard work and we’re not there yet.”

 

Myette added that companies should embrace a “measurement commitment” to sustainability. Manufacturers that are early adopters and who commit to learning, understanding and improving often are at an early disadvantage because they incur costs before they realize savings, he said. But that should not keep them from seeking to achieve goals in the area of sustainability, he said.

 

“Your role is to ask the hard questions – of yourself and your company, of your suppliers and your customers,” he said. “There are amazing, evolving and readily accessible tools out there. Use them. The industry is working hard to create them. Rome wasn’t built in a day … but it was built. Get started.”

 

He added that companies should communicate up and down the supply chain – and be humble because we are all “eco-ignorant,” he said.

 

“Sustainability is a team sport,” Myette said. “Learn to collaborate with your partners as well as competitors. Trust is the elixir that allows collaboration to succeed.”

 

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