This can’t happen soon enough

February 24, 2025  |  My Take

This month we have been focusing our features on medical applications, specifically, developments in biomedical textile research. Our previous feature article (“Challenges and rewards”) discussed some success stories from the standpoint of the businesses pivotal in the process of achieving that …
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We are all in this together

January 27, 2025  |  My Take

In the years since I started editing a magazine about textiles, I’ve seen a steady increase in the number of stories crossing my desk that have to do with sustainability issues. From reducing waste, to recycling, to using products without potentially dangerous chemicals, to designing more sustaina…
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A few of this year’s “wow” innovations

December 16, 2024  |  My Take

It’s the end of the year, and that means a look back and a look forward. In the interests of fitting this into a blog you’ll have time to read, we’re picked a few choice innovations that have a “wow” factor worth noting.
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Reduce, reuse, recycle

November 11, 2024  |  My Take

Earth Day is often credited with turning a counter-culture concern from the 1960s and 70s into a much larger environmental movement. Among the residuals from this 50-year-old awakening is the enduring slogan, “reduce, reuse, recycle,” which offered an easy-to-remember way to encourage people to …
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Are you sure this is going to work?

October 14, 2024  |  My Take

I have covered many ATA Expos, and I remember many conversations, special events, amazing products, and innovations that have frankly blown me away.
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It’s complex: Navigating IP and trade

September 9, 2024  |  My Take

Intellectual property, patent law, trade law, doing business internationally. When these are part of the discussion, many sentences include a “however.” The farther one delves into these areas, the more “howevers” there are, it seems. Even if you’ve achieved getting an international patent…
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Truly wearable

August 12, 2024  |  My Take

When you see a photo of a shirt, for example, with sensing technology built in, it typically looks like something a young athlete would wear. That’s great, because athletes are among the people most likely to be interested in smart garments, and they have good reason to want to monitor their healt…
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Preparing to say, “I told you so”

July 29, 2024  |  My Take

It’s interesting to me how the smart fabric segment of the advanced textiles industry has found ways to maneuver around the limitations inherent in powering smart fabric products. In essence, a battery in the form of a puck, as it’s now called, provides the power—one way or another. Workaround…
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