Moisture management, three-dimensional nonwoven structures and the future of nonwovens were just a few of the topics presented by speakers from the nonwovens and related industries at INDA’s seventh edition of RISE – The Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics Conference – that took place Sept. 12-14, 2017, at the Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, Raleigh, NC.

“This RISE Conference offered outstanding content to stimulate and foster innovation in engineered materials. The downtown Raleigh location was enjoyed by all. If you are a product developer in engineered fabrics, this is the conference you should not miss,” says Dave Rouse, INDA president.

Experts on manufacturing technology kicked-off the conference last Tuesday with presentations from keynote speaker Bernd Kunze, Dr. Ing., CEO, Reifenhäuser Reicofil, who presented a leading global machine producer’s perspective for expanding conceptual planning with the latest predictive analytical techniques. Michael Gallaher, Ph.D., Research Triangle Institute (RTI), followed up with a discussion on a study about smart manufacturing.

Other keynote speakers from the three-day event included Keith Hoover, VP, Material Process & Color Innovation, Under Armour, who discussed the global manufacturing landscape and new manufacturing models for apparel creation; Yoel Fink, Ph.D., CEO, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, and director, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who presented the leading edge multifunctional fiber devices that are extending the frontiers of fiber materials; and Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Ph.D., professor, North Carolina State University, and director, The Nonwovens Institute, with a presentation on potentially disruptive material science technologies and key areas of materials research.

Sustainability was another topic of importance at the conference. NatureWorks’ Aman Kulshrestha, principal scientist, and Tim Vanyo, principal applications engineer, discussed the ways PLA-based Ingeo fibers are being used in hygiene applications. Meanwhile, Alexander A. Koukoulas’, Ph.D., A2K Consultants, presentation on “Nonwovens and the Sustainability Imperative” examined current applications in wetlaid manufacturing and the use of renewable fibers in the nonwovens industry.

Also highlighting the event was a poster session featuring 15 postdoctoral students from North Carolina State’s Nonwovens Institute who presented on topics such as “Effects of Filter Media Structures on Particle Capture and Dust Holding Capacity,” “Foam Forming with Complex Synthetics Fibers in the Wet-Lay Process” and “Intrinsically Microporous Nonwovens.”

Presentations for the 2017 RISE Innovation Award took place on Wednesday afternoon, with the winner, Club Coffee’s PurPod100 Compostable Pods, announced on Thursday afternoon. Coffee’s PurPod100 Compostable Pods are the world’s first certified 100% compostable pod for the Keurig single serve coffee format. Proven to break down in large-scale composting, the pod's mesh filter is a polylactic acid-based product. It is the first successful thermoformable PLA nonwoven filter application and its filtering delivers consumer satisfaction for many coffee brands.

“We are truly honored to receive this year’s RISE Innovation Award. Millions of consumers are enjoying a great cup of coffee 'guilt-free' in our 100% compostable PurPod100 format every day, and we are proud to see industry experts recognize the sustainable nonwoven filter innovation that makes every cup possible,” says Claudio Gemmiti, senior VP of Innovation and Strategic Growth at Club Coffee L.P.

The next and eighth edition of the RISE conference will be in September 2018.