New multi-disciplinary Technical Textiles Research Centre launched

A NEW research centre at the University of Huddersfield aims to re-establish the town and region as a world leader in textiles by harnessing the newest technology and manufacturing techniques. 

The focus will be on high-performance technical textiles that are bespoke and high quality but produced speedily and efficiently so that are competitively priced and can respond to an increase in global demand. 

“At the heart of this ambition is our passion for the textile industry that gave Huddersfield its global reputation for excellence and innovation,” states the founder and director of the newly-established Technical Textile Research Centre (TTRC). 

Professor Parik Goswami, whose areas of expertise include the use of flexible materials for various technical applications and the application of chemistry to add functionality to textiles will lead a multi-disciplinary team of University of Huddersfield lecturers, researchers and professors.

The centre will house a multitude of experts in fields that include chemistry and engineering as well as textiles.  Huddersfield’s heritage as a major centre for the chemical industry is another catalyst for the research centre. 

“Through the adoption of novel textile chemistry, combined with engineering expertise and digital technologies we can help UK textiles recapture an increasing share of global markets,” pledges Professor Goswami. 

The new TTRC will also recruit PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers and launch a new MSc degree course in Product Innovation with Textiles. 

The study and research of technical textiles at the University of Huddersfield is based in a newly-constructed laboratory, equipped with state-of-the-art technology. This is due for further expansion and there are plans to bid for major funding via the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy.

As part of this strategy, the Government has announced four Grand Challenges. They include the problems posed by an ageing society, and the TTRC states that innovations in technical textiles have a role to play by addressing issues such as wound care, hospital-acquired infections and tissue engineering. 

The TTRC also aims to research sustainable alternatives to fibres that are derived from petro-chemicals. 

Huddersfield is at the heart of the Leeds City Region, which has the UK’s largest regional economy outside London and hosts the largest cluster of higher education institutions outside the capital. It is now home to the Future Fashion Factory, a £5.4 million partnership that is developing new digital and advanced textile technologies. 

It has received funding via the Government-backed Arts and Humanities Research Council, and has a large roster of industry partners. Professor Goswami is one of the Future Fashion Factory’s Co-investigators and the University of Huddersfield is one of its research centres, alongside the University of Leeds and the Royal College of Art. 

The R&D developed across the Future Fashion Factory research themes will also feed into industrial apprenticeship programmes and the Huddersfield-based Textile Centre of Excellence will deliver the next generation of industry apprenticeships.

The Future Fashion Factory’s stated mission is: “to be an industry-led collaborative research programme linking the textile design and manufacturing centres within the Leeds City Region with the creative design and retail centre of London.”

It brings together expertise from ten core industry partners, with many more forming a wider network spanning design, manufacturing and retail in the UK.