ITMA, the world’s largest and most established textile machinery exhibition, has put a bigger spotlight on research and development, as well as education and training; a pavilion will be organised for research institutes and higher institutions of learning to showcase their projects, capabilities and programmes.

The Research & Education (R&E) pavilion will be a major feature at next year’s ITMA exhibition, which will be held at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía venue in Barcelona, Spain from 22 to 29 September 2011. It is one of a range of initiatives by the show owner, CEMATEX, to ensure the sustainable development of the textile and garment industry.

 According to Jeroen Vits, Secretary General of SYMATEX (Belgium) and Chairman of the ITMA 2011 R&E Committee, the key to creating the industry’s sustainable development is through research and development, and education and training.

 He commented, “We believe that businesses must continue to invest in developing innovative processes, products, and manufacturing capabilities. In addition, human capital must be developed to the fullest. There must be more dialogue and cross-fertilisation of ideas between commercial and academic organisations to encourage synergistic collaboration, and to ensure a continuous stream of new ideas and innovations.

 “ITMA 2011 will be an excellent platform for exploring strategic partnerships, exchange of ideas, and networking. We hope more organisations will take up this opportunity to showcase or share their expertise and projects, as we will have well over 100,000 exhibitor and visitor personnel converging at our exhibition.”

 AUTEX, the Association of Universities for Textiles, which has 32 members from 24 countries, is in support of ITMA’s focus. The association’s vision is to facilitate co-operation amongst members in high-level textile education and research.

Its General Secretary, Prof Paul Kiekens, of AUTEX, commented: “As the voice of the European textile universities, AUTEX promotes and participates in research & development and education projects which bring added value to the textiles industry at the European level.

 “We see positive synergies with ITMA, which has been held in Europe for six decades. Hence, we believe the exhibition with its focus on the Research and Education sector is an excellent platform for constructive dialogue between universities and industry members and we are very pleased to support it.”

 Invitations have been sent to research centres, institutions and associations all around the world to participate in the R&E pavilion. As a result, a number of leading institutions have already responded to the call.

 Among them are the Institut für Textil- und Verfahrenstechnik Denkendorf (ITV-Denkendorf) and the Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University (ITA), Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM and Cetex Institut für Textil- und Verarbeitungsmaschinen gemeinnützige GmbH from Germany; D.K.T.E. Society's Textile & Engineering Institute from India; and Instituto Tecnológico Textil (AITEX) and Institut D'investigació Tèxtil I Cooperació Industrial de Terrassa-UPC from Spain.

 Research institutes, colleges and universities interested in exhibiting at the R&E pavilion can apply online for a standard shell scheme stand at www.itma.com . The deadline for submission for these institutions is 5 January 2011.

A highlight at the pavilion is a speaker’s corner where 20-minute presentation slots are made available to organisations participating in the area. The slots are limited and will be offered on a first-come-first-served basis.

 For institutions and universities which prefer a more cost-effective option, they can share their innovations and achievements through poster presentations. Registration and submission details are available at www.itma.com .

 “We welcome submissions on themes such as textiles, polymers and process technology. To ensure the quality of the submissions, all presentations and posters are subject to the approval of a technical committee,” said Mr Vits.

 Besides research and education, ITMA 2011 will also of course feature exhibits from the entire textile and garment value chain, ranging from textile spinning, web formation, winding and texturing, weaving, knitting and hosiery, embroidery and braiding, finishing, dyestuffs and chemicals, software, logistics, plant operations, recycling, education, garment making and textile processing. The 100,000 m² net exhibition is expected to attract over 1400 international exhibiting companies.