The Walter Reiners Foundation of the German textile machinery industry has honoured three successful junior engineers for research projects that “respond to the new textile reality.” Dr. Uwe Köckritz, TU Dresden, was honoured for his dissertation dealing with the fiber reinforcement of concrete. Fabian Schreiber, RWTH Aachen, won the award for the best diploma thesis, [...]

The American Rental Association (ARA) advocates an economic stimulus package that provides tax relief to spur investment in the rental industry, along with significant spending on infrastructure that will help lift the declining equipment rental industry. More than 4,000 equipment rental businesses and 1,100 equipment manufacturers in the U.S. make up this $35.3 billion industry, [...]

Challenge, opportunity and growth: Our market forecast for the specialty fabrics industry By Jeff Rasmussen A survey conducted in fall 2008 by ATA with its U.S. end-product manufacturer members revealed some interesting results. Almost half (45 percent) of all manufacturer respondents reported favorable sales in the first half of 2008 compared to the first half [...]

The Leonardo Academy, a nonprofit organization promoting sustainability among competitive businesses, has certified the global operations of Milliken & Co., Spartanburg, S.C., as carbon negative. Reducing its contribution to global climate change has been one of Milliken’s goals, and the Leonardo Academy performed an analysis of the company’s emission inventories, offsets and reduction credits and [...]

Hurricane Katrina’s destructive path along the Gulf Coast took a toll on the City of Lake Charles, La., but a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency helped restore city parks. Shade Systems Inc., Ocala, Fla., a manufacturer of outdoor shade structures, put wind in the sails of the new recreation areas with visually uplifting [...]

Swiss researchers coated polyester fabric with tiny silicone nanofilaments and the result is a whole new level of waterproofing. “The water comes to rest on the top of the nanofilaments like a fakir sitting on a bed of nails,” says Professor Stefan Seeger, University of Zurich, who is leading the effort to create the super-waterproof [...]

Public safety and military personnel don hazmat suits to prevent exposure to deadly chemicals, and can’t afford to think twice about whether those garments provide sufficient protection. The Midwest Research Institute, Kansas City, Mo., recently received a $26.3 contract from the U.S. Army to put protective gear to the test, using free-standing, two-legged robots that [...]

The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE®) dressed up in party gear for its 10th year of passenger rail service between Stockton and San Jose, Calif. Wrapped Graphics of Stockton wrapped the entire train in printed vinyl, showing off ACE’s commemorative logo and inviting slogan in bright blues, reds and yellows. Wrapped Graphics used an HP® 9000 [...]

Dubai Sports City, the world’s first purpose-built sports city, now contains a 25,000-seat cricket stadium constructed of steel frames and a fiberglass-woven PTFE membrane with a self-cleaning topcoat of titanium dioxide (TiO2). Birdair Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., installed the 600-ton steel truss system and 20,000 square meters of membrane, completing the S3 Cricket Stadium at the [...]

The Pentagon estimates that more than 25,000 injuries and casualties in Iraq have been caused by roadside bombs, so more effective armoring is a high priority for manufacturers of protective gear. At the November Netherlands Defense Industry Symposium, TenCate Advanced Armor, Vissenbjerg, Denmark, a supplier of vehicle and personal protection, introduced a new defensive tactic—composite [...]