Advances in Fiber and Textile Technology Symposium

MARCH 10-12, 2026 | RALEIGH, NC
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Advances in Fiber and Textile Technology Symposium

Special symposium on innovations in smart, functional, and sustainable textiles that draws on the intersection of materials science, electronics, and sustainability.

The textile industry transforms a wide variety of raw materials to provide crucial fabrics and materials spanning applications from apparel to defense, packaging, automotive, medical and more. This symposium will address innovation areas for this critical industry with broad impact focusing on three areas: 1) smart or E- textiles that integrate electronic functionality and sensing 2) functional textiles that provide additional performance beyond the traditional comfort and aesthetics and 3) sustainable textiles to minimize environmental impact through novel sourcing and manufacturing processes.

Topics & Application Areas

Conductive fibers and fabrics
Energy harvesting textiles
E-textiles with integrated communication, sensing, or actuation
Self-healing and self-cleaning fibers
Moisture and heat responsive fibers
Bio-based and biodegradable fibers
Textile recycling
Sustainable manufacturing of fibers
Other

Symposium Co-Chairs

Dalia Yablon

Technical Program Chair

TechConnect World Innovation Conference

Alex Norman

Executive Director

Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University

Ting He

Senior Principal Textile Engineer

Edwards Lifesciences

Key Speakers

Larissa Shepherd

Assistant Professor

Cornell University

Sasha Stolyarov

CEO

AFFOA

Designing Bioresorbable Medical Textiles Through Processing Control

Chirag Gajjar

Principal Textile R&D Engineer,

Medtronic

Seamlessly Knitted Multimodal Textiles for Warfighter State Monitoring in Deployed Environments

Sen Zhang

Postdoctoral Entrepreneurship Fellow,

University of Washington

Nicole Rawling

CEO

Material Innovation Initiative

Craig Lindemann

Textile Innovator

Fabric Thereafter

Function of Aesthetics in Advanced Softgoods Systems Design

Amy Stoltzfus

Independent Consultant,

Self-employed

Xiaoqi (Suki) Tang

Materials Engineer

Apple

Back to Top ↑ 2026 Symposium Sessions
	Tuesday March 10
1:30	Revolutionary Fibers and Textiles Innovation Challenge
	Wednesday March 11
8:30	Advances in Fiber and Textile Technology
1:30	Advances in Fiber and Textile Technology
4:00	Advances in Fiber and Textile Technology-Posters

2026 Symposium Program
	Tuesday March 10

1:30	Revolutionary Fibers and Textiles Innovation Challenge
	Session chair: Jonathan Jakischa, TechConnect Division, ATI
	Wednesday March 11

8:30	Advances in Fiber and Textile Technology
	Session chair: Ting He, Edwards Life Sciences, & Alex Norman, Princeton University
	Advanced Textile Systems from the Defense Fabric Discovery Center E. Doran, L. Cantley, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, US
	TBD S. Stolyarov, AFFOA, US
	Structure Property Relationships of Photonic Fibers and Textiles H. Jayamaha, K. Park, L. Shepherd, Cornell University, US
	Designing Bioresorbable Medical Textiles Through Processing Control C. Gajjar, Medtronic, US
	Seamlessly Knitted Multimodal Textiles for Warfighter State Monitoring in Deployed Environments S. Zhang, University of Washington
	Panel Session: Transforming Innovative Materials to the Textile Industry. Moderator - Ting He (Edwards Life Sciences) Panelists - Amy Stolzfus (Independent) Nicole Rawling (Material Innovation Initiative) and Craig Lindemann (Fabric Therafter), Xiaoqi Tang (Apple)

1:30	Advances in Fiber and Textile Technology
	Session chair: Ting He, Edwards Life Sciences, & Alex Norman, Princeton University
	Function of Aesthetics in Advanced Softgoods Systems Design A. Stoltzfus, Independent Consultant, US
	TBD X. Tang, Apple, US
	Material Properties of Aggregate Spider Silk After Exposure to Extreme Speed and Thermal Ranges S. DeAndrea, S. Stellwagen, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, US
	Evaluation of Sinusoidal Interconnect Geometry in Woven Electronic Textiles F. Ahmed, C. Kwon, A. Mills, North Carolina State University, US
	Preparation of PEEK fibers by melt spinning, control of morphology, and property enhancement B. Bikson, N. Khadse, Avanpore, LLC, US
	Enabling Textile Composition Data Transparency Through Accurate, AI-Powered Detection R. Geppert, S. Bajaj, T. Gupta, G. Menzl, Refiberd, US
	Low-cost, non-destructive “SolvoGenesis” process for Textile Recycling E. Terreni, T. Eam Feinberg, A. Nebipasagil, B. McGarrah, S. Pena Feliz, J-G. Rosenboom, MacroCycle Technologies, US
	Advanced Thermal Insulation via Engineered Ceramic and Carbon Fiber Compositions S. D. Miller, Miller Scientific Inc., US
	Extensible Collagen Fibers are Driving Novel Surgical Textile Development G. Chowdhry, 3DBioFibR Inc, CA

4:00	Advances in Fiber and Textile Technology-Posters
	ZSK-Embroidered Textile Interconnects for Robust, Wash-Durable, and High-Performance Wearable Electronic Textiles A. Siddika, AC. Mills, North Carolina State University, US