Indian Institute Of Technology Holds Textile Comfort Seminar
The Indian Institute of Technology’s Department of Textile Technology recently held a one-day seminar on the topic of comfort in textiles.According to V. K. Kothari, professor and head of the Textile Technology Department, the seminar was designed to present textile comfort research conducted by the faculty to experts from the textile industry, research organizations and educational institutions; deliberate on the critical issues in this area; and decide on future research and development directions. Kothari said the awareness of fabric comfort and clothing physiology is expected to continue to grow worldwide, providing the research community with challenges and opportunities. He added that, over the years, the Indian Institute of Technology has conducted research and development in many areas of fabric comfort, such as moisture permeability, water resistance, static charge build-up, thermal resistance/transmission, climatic chamber and physiological comfort characteristics.
The Textile Comfort seminar hosted by the Indian Institute of Technology’s Department of Textile Technology was well-attended by industry executives.Kothari said the seminar, which included two technical sessions and two group discussion sessions, was well attended by leading industry executives. The technical sessions included presentations on topics such as factors affecting comfort; design of textiles for comfort; thermal, moisture and air transmission behaviors of textiles; new yarn and fabric structures for enhancing fabric comfort; subjective and objective evaluation of fabric handle and comfort; comfort finishing of textiles; and product development for comfort. The seminar concluded noting that there is a tremendous opportunity in India to develop new products to enhance fabric comfort and it would largely involve focused product development to cater to national and global markets. Moreover, the meaningful networking among academic institutions and the industry will play a critical role in future developments.
January/February 2005