#Associations

2019-12-11

Top young talent for a technologically strong industry

Caption: Chairman of the foundation and the winners (from left to right): Heinrich, Kaluza, Elbayoumi, Elser, Pötzsch, Dornier, Eckert. (Source: ©ITM/TU Dresden)

At the end of November, the chairman of the Walter Reiners-Stiftung (Foundation) of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association, Peter D. Dornier presented awards to six successful young engineers in Dresden. The award ceremony took place as part of the Aachen-Dresden-Denkendorf International Textile Conference.

The focuses of the award-winning works of the young engineers reflect the strengths of German textile machinery construction: the sector is particularly strong where high-quality applications and products are concerned.

Janina Elser, TU Chemnitz, Abdelrahman Elbayoumi, ITA Aachen and Hendrik Pötzsch, ITM Dresden, were honoured with creativity awards for the cleverest bachelor or project work. The prizes are endowed with 3,000 euros each.

Ms. Elser's bachelor thesis dealt with the prototypical development of circular knitted knee bandages. The subject of Mr. Elbayoumi's bachelor thesis is a feedback control system for an over-braiding process. Mr. Pötzsch's project work deals with the production of carbon fibres using solvent wet spinning technology.

Tim Kaluza, ITM Dresden and Julia Eckert, ITA Aachen, were awarded two promotion prizes in the category diploma / master thesis with prize money of 3,500 euros each. Mr. Kaluza's diploma thesis deals with the automated production of mesh-free multiaxial fabrics.

In her master thesis, Ms. Eckert developed an environmental assessment system for the production of jeans.

This year, the promotion prize of the German Textile Machinery Industry in the dissertation category was awarded to Dr. Stefan Heinrich, TU Chemnitz. The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros. The result is a fundamental work on gear requirements in textile machines, which will make a greater contribution in engineering practice.

Walter Reiners Foundation - Recruiting and promoting talent

Through its Walter Reiners-Stiftung (Foundation), the VDMA Textile Machinery Association is actively involved in promoting young engineers. Every year, the foundation awards prizes for the best dissertation, diploma or master's thesis and creativity prizes for clever bachelor's and semester theses. Through financial support for university excursions to VDMA member companies and to the leading trade fair ITMA, it provides students with regular insights into practice. The Internet portal talentmaschine.de and the homepage of the Textile Machinery Association txm.vdma.org (under the heading Young Engineers) provide information on the occupational field of textile machinery, the activities of the foundation and excursion reports by students.

Young researchers recognised for cutting-edge work in recycling, fibre technology and textile mechanics

At the Aachen-Dresden-Denkendorf International Textile Conference held in Aachen at the end of November, Peter D. Dornier, Chairman of the Walter Reiners Foundation of the VDMA, honoured five successful young engineers. Promotion and sustainability prizes were awarded in the categories bachelor/project theses and diploma/master theses. Academic theses that develop solutions for resource-saving products and technologies, for example, are eligible for the sustainability awards.

VDMA members at ITMA ASIA + CITME in Singapore

With 69 exhibiting member companies, ITMA ASIA + CITME 2025 is once again marked by a strong presence of VDMA companies. Altogether 82 companies from Germany will exhibit at the show, covering about 3,500 square meters of exhibition space, topped only by China and Italy. VDMA initiated a German Pavilion with two group stands (spinning in hall 4 and finishing in hall 7) with a total of 30 exhibitors.

VDMA member companies on display at ITMA ASIA

ITMA ASIA + CITME end of October in Singapore will see a strong participation of around 70 VDMA member companies. They will cover nearly all different machinery chapters along the textile value chain including spinning and man-made fibres, nonwovens, weaving, braiding, knitting & warp knitting, finishing & dyeing as well as technologies for textile recycling and processing of recycled material. VDMA initiated a German Pavilion with two group stands (spinning in hall 4 and finishing in hall 7) with a total of 30 exhibitors.

Smart technologies for green textile production

With 42 exhibiting member companies, ITMA ASIA + CITME 2024 is once again marked by a strong presence of VDMA companies. They cover nearly all different machinery chapters with a focus on spinning and man-made fibers, nonwovens, weaving, braiding, knitting & warp knitting, finishing & dyeing as well as technologies for textile recycling and processing of recycled material. In total, the German participation at the fair is the largest from outside China.

VDMA members at Techtextil: Smart technologies for technical textiles

At Techtextil 2026 in Frankfurt, the members of VDMA Textile Machinery underline their key role as global technology leaders for technical textiles and textile processing. With a strong presence of more than 50 members they will highlight how engineering excellence, innovation strength and sustainability expertise from Germany and Europe are shaping the future of the textile industry. Seven companies will be present at the VDMA group stand in the centre of hall 12.0.

Between geopolitical pressure and industrial resilience

In this interview, Dr. Janpeter Horn (VDMA) discusses the current challenges facing textile machinery manufacturers, shaped by geopolitical tensions, regulatory developments and subdued investment. He also outlines why innovation strength, integrated solutions and strategic positioning remain key to global competitiveness.

Europe is losing its textile industry

EURATEX has released its latest Economic Update on the performance of the European textile and apparel industry in 2025. For the third consecutive year, the sector recorded negative results across all key indicators — production, turnover and employment — confirming a continued erosion of competitiveness across Europe.

Italian Textile Machinery heads to Geneva for Index 2026

An important delegation of Italian companies will exhibit at the upcoming INDEX 2026, the world’s leading event for the nonwovens sector, taking place from May 19 to 22 in Geneva (Switzerland). Numerous Italian exhibitors will be present within the Italy Pavilion, organized by the Italian Trade Agency (ICE) and ACIMIT, an exhibition area of over 140 square meters dedicated to the latest innovations proposed by the Italian industry.