IAA projects show the range of applications in the safety and protective fabrics market. Applications with demanding safety and protection requirements represent a highly specialized niche in the industrial fabrics world. ATA’s annual International Achievement Awards recognized two companies in the 2011 competition for unique projects completed for NASA programs Rocket engine ventilation A&R Tarpaulins [...]

Each year at the Exhibit Designers and Producers Association (EDPA) Annual Conference, the Hazel Hays Award is given to recognize significant contributions to the exhibit industry. Charlie Corsentino, chairman, president and CEO of Moss Inc., Chicago, Ill., won the 2011 award for his 20 years of leadership in the industry. Among Corsentino’s accomplishments, both before [...]

American Colors, Inc., a custom color house serving the plastics and coatings industries, recently appointed North Coast Chemical Sales as sales agent for thermoset composites. “I am excited to put my years of sales experience in the thermoset composites market to work for American Colors, Inc.,” said Marty Holden, owner of North Coast Chemical Sales. [...]

Millions of pilgrims flock to the mosque in Medina al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia, each year as part of Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious pilgrimage to Mecca and other holy sites that must be carried out by every able-bodied Muslim at least once in his or her lifetime. The Muslim lunar calendar is shifting [...]

Artist Janet Echelman’s first visit to Phoenix, Ariz., left her “mesmerized by the broad, open sky… the shock of desert winds, whirls of dust, the crash of lightning, and that luminous blue turning to violet and orange, then velvety blue-black.” Recreating her vision took time, teamwork and meticulous planning. The resulting 145-foot aerial sculpture, “Her [...]

Humid, subtropical Brisbane, Australia, basks through an average 3,000 hours of sunlight each year, and in this environment, Australia’s Kingscliff-based Fabritecture has it made with the shade. Fabritecture designs, manufactures and installs tensile fabric structures throughout the world; the company won two Advanced Textiles Association (ATA) International Achievement Awards (IAA) at IFAI Expo Americas 2011 [...]

The awning business has been good to Ann and Ed Hunzinger, fourth-generation owners of the Evanston Awning Co., Evanston, Ill. The Hunzingers have been good for the industry in turn, serving in leadership roles in the Professional Awning Manufacturers Association and the Midwest Fabric Products Association. The next generation of Hunzingers in the business (sons [...]

“Flashing any pipe or conduit with a typical field wrap is labor intensive,” says Jerry Beall, product manager of FiberTite® Roofing Systems, manufactured by Seaman Corp., Wooster, Ohio. “It takes special talent to pattern the base and collar, so that they tie together in a way that’s watertight.” New FiberTite Wrapid Flash™ pipe flashing installs [...]

“In the United States, the average person discards 70 pounds of their old clothing, shoes and household textiles in their local landfill each year,” says Eric Stubin, chairman of the Council for Textile Recycling (CTR). The CTR, a nonprofit organization promoting post-consumer textile recycling, recently launched a website to educate the public on recycling all [...]

During the 2008-2009 recession, many U.S. textile mills went into the red for a few quarters. In 2011, “all of the anticipated textile and apparel profit numbers look to remain solidly in the black,” according to Robert S. Reichard, economic editor for textileworld.com. Earnings in 2011 have been dragged down by the increased cost of [...]