Author: Lorena Fiori

LUMEN by Jenny Sabin Studio – 2017 MOMA Young Architect Program Winner

As winner of the MOMA Young Architect Program, my co-author and long-standing collaborator, Jenny Sabin, has a 3 month long installation at MOMA PS1 in NY. She used seamless knitting involving a million yards of fiber to create a pavilion. It’s remarkable and ground-breaking, but also inspirational to those in the field. Interestingly, she and I collaborated on a knitted installation last year that prototyped a part of this project. – Peter Lloyd Jones

LUMEN by Jenny Sabin Studio - 2017 MOMA Young Architect Program Winner

Elizabeth Whelan Design wins top prize at FT Awards

Textiles studio Elizabeth Whelan Design took home the Launch of the Year trophy at last night’s Future Textiles Awards 2017, hosted at The Westin Grand Frankfurt, Germany. Kunal Mankodiya, of the University of Rhode Island, was named Innovator of the Year, and the team from Inuheat Group AB was successful in two separate categories.

Elizabeth Whelan Design wins top prize at FT Awards

Contact Us

Questions?

Contact Tina Gilman, Director of Administration and Membership

tina@affoa.org

617-253-5957

AFFOA is headquartered in Cambridge, MA

Academic

A Research and Development (R&D) and education powerhouse consisting of universities, blending classical textile studies with fiber design and technology-oriented programs.

FIN

A nationwide collaborative infrastructure consisting of small and medium domestic manufacturers, academic labs and NPOs across the US and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that have committed unique and dedicated capacity in support of AFFOA projects. Assembled, coordinated, and managed by AFFOA, the FIN serves as its distributed project execution foundry with capabilities in all aspects of manufacturing in advanced textile systems including design and modeling, manufacturing of fibers and yarns as well as nonwovens, woven and knitted textiles plus assembly and system integration, including data and software services across prototyping and pilot production scales.

Industry

Major industrial corporate members spanning the electronics, materials, apparel, transportation, fashion, defense, medical, and consumer goods manufacturing sectors have committed annual project funding.

Start Up/NPO

A network of regional “fab-less” startup incubators dedicated to advanced fabrics will be set up with help from Venture Capital (VC) near our University Hubs.

Hi-tech fabric could revive textiles

A group of researchers at the University of Georgia are on the leading edge of developments that they hope will bring the textile industry back from the dead in the United States.

Hi-tech fabric could revive textiles

URI biomedical engineering professor creating smart gloves to monitor Parkinson’s disease patients

KINGSTON, R.I., Oct. 19, 2016—Prescribing a medication plan for a patient with Parkinson’s disease is a big challenge for doctors, but now a University of Rhode Island biomedical engineering professor and his students are making great strides in solving that problem with their groundbreaking research.

URI biomedical engineering professor creating smart gloves to monitor Parkinson’s disease patients

PhilaU Team Helps Develop Protective Garment for Military

A Philadelphia University-lead team recently completed work on two prototypes of protective suits for the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in partnership with the Battelle Memorial Institute.

PhilaU Team Helps Develop Protective Garment for Military

Norman Chapman

Norman Chapman

Norman Chapman is the President and COO of Inman Mills. Inman is a textile company located in South Carolina with 700 employees. Inman’s products include fire retardant fabrics for bedding and apparel, industrial fabrics including beltings, thermoplastic composite prepregs, workwear, and sportswear.

Norman holds a B.S. in Economics from Clemson University. He has served on numerous professional and nonprofit boards in leadership positions including the Southeastern Apparel and Textile Association, National Council of Textile Organizations, Inman Mills, B2B Media, Carolina Alliance Bank, Wofford College Presidents Advisory Board, Clemson Board of Visitors, Chamber of Commerce, United Way, and AFFOA.

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John Fry

John Fry

John Anderson Fry, appointed Drexel University’s 14th president in 2010, has served higher education for his entire professional life. Through his roles as a consultant, board member, chief operating officer and chief executive, he has acquired a deep and broad understanding of the challenges of leading a major educational institution.

Fry set out to transform Drexel into what he has termed the “modern urban university of the future”—an institution that harnesses both its long-established and still-emerging strengths to serve its students, its neighborhood, its city and the nation. Under Fry’s leadership, Drexel is setting a new standard for cooperative education, transforming its online and hybrid offerings, and becoming a powerful force for economic development in the Greater Philadelphia region. Fry led the University community’s collaboration on a five-year strategic plan, launched in 2012, to guide the pursuit of those goals.
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Charles Howland

Charles Howland

Charles Howland is President and Chief Engineer of Warwick Mills based in New Ipswich, NH.  Howland is the author of over 60 patents or patents pending on textile constructions, specializing in material science solutions for aerospace textiles, protective garments and body armor, needle-resistant fabrics, cut-resistant gloves, impermeable laminates for chemical and biological hazards among others. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Over the course of thirty years of material science work, Howland has focused on improving a substrate’s adhesion performance by investigating the surface analysis and surface modification technologies for products involving coating, lamination and mosaic assembly.

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Steve Rendle

Steve Rendle

Steve Rendle is President & Chief Operating Officer at VF Corporation, a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories. VF had 2015 revenues of $12.4 billion and is owner of iconic brands, including The North Face®, Vans®, Timberland®, Wrangler® and Lee®.

Rendle has more than 30 years of experience in the specialty outdoor and action sports industry, including 17 years at VF where his successful, value-creating career has been comprised of executive-level positions at both the brand and corporate levels. He is a member of VF’s Board of Directors, and its Operating and Executive Committees.

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Michael Spillane

Michael Spillane

Michael Spillane leads NIKE’s product engines and merchandising as President, Product & Merchandising. Spillane is responsible for developing the strategy that drives the creation of all NIKE footwear, apparel and equipment, and he leads the merchandising of all product to the global marketplace. Since he joined NIKE in 2007, Spillane has held leadership positions with Converse, Umbro, Greater China, and, most recently, Global Footwear. With extensive experience in marketing consumer products, Spillane previously held senior management roles at leading apparel and textile companies, including Malden Mills, Tommy Hilfiger USA, Jockey International, and Missbrenner, Inc.  Spillane serves on the board of directors at The Boston Beer Co., and Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA).