The 52^nd edition of Dornbirn Man-Made Fibres Congress,  that took place from 11-13 September, put a focus on global social and economic challenges, such as climate, energy, health, nutrition, mobility, safety, communication, labour and key technologies.

Encouraging young people to participate in shaping a future, the event drew the attention to the great potential of the man-made fibre industry for innovation, which may lead to discovering new fields of applications, as well as help to save the environment and resources by sustainability, energy and cost saving production and processing.

The event recorded about 800 participants coming from 30 countries, including Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, France, Portugal, and Italy.

Development and new applications

The lectures featuring the event focused on rapid proliferation of man-made fibres in new, more complex fields of applications. Experts like Friedrich Weninger, resident of the Austrian Man-Made Fibres Institute, gave an insight into current factors and developments that are expected to influence considerably the further economic success of man-made fibres.

Giulio Bonazzi, President of CIRFS, the European Man-made Fibres Association, spoke about the European man-made fibres industry and how it is going to meet the challenges of tomorrow’s world.

Stephan Walter, RWTH Aachen, was awarded the Paul Schlack Prize 2013 for his work ‘Development of piezoelectric sensor fibres based on polyvinylidene-fluoride’. The honorary prize was awarded to  Till Batt, from the Institute of Textile Technology and Process Engineering Denkendorf, for his work on ‘Economical production of ultrafine thermoplastic fibres for filtration’.

Lectures

More than hundred lectured featured the congress, covering topics like ‘Sustainable solutions for the fibre industry’, ‘Fibre innovations’, ‘Unconventional fibre applications’, ‘Finishing’, ‘Sports and functional wear’ as well as ‘Market specials’, which were all aimed at showing a unique cross-section about the innovative potential and vast applications in the man-made fibre world.

 Yoseung Ho, Huvis Corporation, held a lecture about the current status of the Korean man-made fibres industry and trends in the development of technology. Prof Meike Tielebein, from the German Centre of Management Research, presented a lecture on the topic ‘The new textile revolution – Trends and challenges at the new start of the textile industry’. The plenary session also featured a presentation of  Ryan Young, from the Apparel Coalition, titled ‘The Higg index and collaboration in the apparel industry’.

Further cooperation

With future plans to expand into the international fibre market, Dornbirn-MFC wants to intensify the cooperation with further roof organisations and leading industrial companies in the coming year.

The main topics to be covered at the 53^rd Dornbirn-MFC 2014, which will take place from 10-12 September, include:

• Fibre/filament innovations (oil and bio based fibre raw materials, carbon fibres, functionalities, unconventional applications, waste management)
• Nonwovens/filtration
• Automotive (transportation – train/ship/air)
• Key technologies (finishing, coating, spinning /extrusion)
• Market specials/new business models

www.dornbirn-mfc.com