Getting to know AI

May 8, 2025  |  My Take

I needed to write this blog post about AI in the textile industry, since it’s the subject of our features this month, but I’m a complete neophyte, plain and simple. I know some basics about this topic, but little else, so I did the logical thing and asked Chat GPT a few questions about the texti…
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Finding fibers and fabrics in unlikely places

April 24, 2025  |  My Take

Ever since I first got involved with the textile industry, I’ve puzzled over composites. As a Specialty Fabrics Review editor, we typically covered flexible composites, but not rigid composites. It was our perception that few of our members and readers were involved in this market area. It was als…
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Simple—or not

March 10, 2025  |  My Take

Among songwriters in Nashville, they used to say, “Keep it simple, stupid.” Writing a really good country song may appear to be simple, but sometimes the simpler the idea, the more difficult it is to say something fresh and new, and solving that is … well, simply in the details.
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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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