#Associations

2022-03-17

AATCC announces new interest group: Rising professionals

AATCC’s newest Interest Group is focused on the needs of new members. The new AATCC Rising Professionals Interest Group will concentrate on career development, networking, diversity, mentorship, leadership, and other similar aspects of a career in textiles.

The Rising Professionals Interest Group desires to be the AATCC “home” for individuals new to the industry—whether recently-graduated students or professionals recently employed by a company in this industry—and new to AATCC. The Interest Group hopes to foster involvement, engagement, and leadership within AATCC and to benefit the industry.

The “nickname” the Rising Professionals Interest Group will use is RISE—standing for:

• Reach (programs & events)

• Information (educational content, training materials)

• Services (member services)

• Empowerment (mentorship program)

The new Interest Group grew out of AATCC’s Young Professionals Committee—which has opened its membership to members of all ages, as long as they are interested in the aims and organizational pillars of the Interest Group.

The pillars for the RISE Interest Group will be responsible for include:

• Education: Interest Group Discussion meetings, Textile Discovery Summit content

• Empowerment: mentorship program, diversity & inclusion, leadership development

• Member Services: (understanding AATCC as a valuable resource) including AATCC Committee Best Practices, training materials to function well in committees, other services and activities available to members

• Students/Academia: representation of students’ ideas, needs, and interests

• Professional/Industry: representation of professional ideas, needs, and interests

Current RISE officers are Interest Group Acting Chair, Tyler Pickett, and Acting At Large member R. Bryan Ormond, North Carolina State University. (pictured below)

Interest Group officers serve as AATCC Board of Directors members. AATCC members can nominate new Interest Group officers until March 31. Only AATCC members who are voting members of the Rising Professionals Interest Group may vote for the RISE officers who will be on the Board of Directors. For more information about the AATCC Board of Directors and their duties, visit https://aatcc.org/bod/

If you are new to the textile industry and want to get involved, network, or learn more about AATCC and the industry, join AATCC’s Rising professionals Interest Group! It is a great place to get started within AATCC. To learn more about all AATCC interest groups, visit https://aatcc.org/join/#ig. Not sure about joining an interest group yet but would like to join AATCC? Become a member of AATCC at https://aatcc.org/join/!

AATCC announces 2025 Herman & Myrtle Goldstein Graduate Student Paper Competition winners

The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) recognized the winners of the 2025 Herman & Myrtle Goldstein Graduate Student Paper Competition. Founded in 1982 to give student members the chance to conduct and present original research, the competition was renamed in 1994 in honor of Herman and Myrtle Goldstein, following their US$60,000 endowment. Their gift is a lasting remembrance of their dedication to young people in the textile industry.

New funding available for textile research

The AATCC Foundation Student Research Support Grant Program provides financial assistance for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing textile-related projects. Students may submit proposals now for funding to be awarded January 2026. Applications must be submitted by October 1, 2025, to be considered.

Young talents honoured – 60 years Walter Reiners Foundation

At the Techtextil trade fair in Frankfurt at the end of April, Peter D. Dornier, chairman of the VDMA’s Walter Reiners Foundation, presented awards to five successful young engineers. Promotion and sustainability awards were presented in the categories of bachelor’s/project theses and diploma/master’s theses. Academic theses are eligible for the sustainability awards if, for example, they develop solutions for resource-efficient products and technologies.

BTMA backs global growth while investing in future UK leaders

As one of a number of new initiatives launched this year, the British Textile Machinery Association (BTMA) is launching the UK-India Textile Machinery Coalition. The UK-India Free Trade Agreement, signed in July 2025, has implications that extend across sourcing, competitiveness and long-term trade dynamics, believes BTMA CEO Jason Kent.

China projected to increase cotton production, yields, and imports in 2026/27

World cotton production in the 2026/27 season is projected at 25.9 million tonnes, exceeding global consumption of 25.2 million tonnes, according to the May 2026 issue of Cotton This Month. That means both production and consumption are expected to remain close to current season levels, while global cotton trade is projected to decline by 2.7% to approximately 9.6-9.7 million tonnes.

ITM 2026: KARL MAYER presents new perspectives

KARL MAYER will once again showcase itself as a strong partner to the Turkish textile industry at ITM in Istanbul from June 9 to 13. At Booth 303 A in Hall 3 of the Tüyap Fair Convention and Congress Center, the industry leader will exhibit solutions for warp knitting, warp preparation, and technical textiles – tailored to a challenging economic environment.

STFI highlights textile circular economy and alternative fibres at INDEX™ 2026

From 19 to 22 May 2026, INDEX will invite visitors to Lake Geneva for the world's leading nonwovens trade fair. The Centre of Excellence in Nonwovens at the Sächsisches Textilforschung- sinstitut e.V. (STFI) will be in attendance to present the latest developments in nonwovens research. In the field of the textile circular economy, the STFI will present acoustically effective nonwovens made from chemical recycling residues. The range also includes innovations aimed at replacing conventional raw materials, such as the biobased and biodegradable polymer polybutylene succinate (PBS) and Kendyr as an alternative to cotton.