Newsletter - October 2021 |
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Welcome back! Autumn/Fall signifies a new cycle. We wish all members the best as you return to campus or the office after a prolonged period of learning or working from home. |
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The Newsletter team is growing! |
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Photo credit: Andrea Piacquadio on pexels.com The ITS Newsletter Committee welcomes into its ranks Farbod Alimohammadi. Farbod has been contributing to recent Newsletters with his amazing technical articles and has now officially accepted the challenge of becoming a regular member of the Newsletter Committee. Thank you Farbod, and welcome aboard! We also wish to honour someone who has been working behind the scenes these past six months: Laurel Martin. Laurel is serving the ITS as Newsletter Editor, which means that the content you are reading is now made clearer, smoother, and more consistent, with proper spelling and impeccable grammar. She holds a M.Sc. in Clothing and Textiles from the University of Manitoba. Thank you, Laurel, for making us all look better! |
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Congratulations Having worked primarily in R&D and Quality at FilSpec since 2017, ITS member Martin Forest recently moved to a new role within FilSpec. He will now be coordinating continuous improvement, covering areas such as processes, information technology, and internal training of production employees, which is becoming critical in order to face the realities of an ageing workforce and manpower shortage. ITS member Sogol Asghari has accepted an invitation to join the CGSB National Flag Committee which oversees the standards for the indoor, outdoor, and one-event only uses of the National Flag. Her knowledge of textiles and test methods will be well appreciated by the committee. Ikra Shuvo, who has been a member of our Newsletter Committee and has contributed articles to the Newsletter, is now a Graduate Research Assistant with Conformable Decoders (link to website), a tenant at the Center for Nanoscale Systems, at Harvard University. We are grateful for Ikra’s contribution and wish him much success as his career develops. |
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Save the date 2022 ITS Symposium March 8-9, 2022 |
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Photo credit: FilSpec Inc. |
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The 2022 ITS Symposium will include six themes distributed over two days: - Energy-harvesting textiles and flexible materials
- Technical textiles for construction/geotechnical engineering applications
- Technical textiles in composite materials
- Nonwovens and their technical applications
- Textile sustainability and recycling
- Next Generation of PPE/PPE innovation
The Student Research Corner will also be back: Look for the Call for Abstracts in early January 2022. |
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Meet An Industry Professional |
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Mireille Bolduc Plant Manager Beaulieu Canada Acton Vale, QC, Canada “Be creative: our brain has an amazing ability to make unexpected connections and create something better than what already exists." |
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Photo credit: Katerine Jean |
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Mireille Bolduc is a Plant Manager with Beaulieu Canada, a carpet manufacturing and flooring product distributor headquartered in Acton Vale, Québec, Canada. Beaulieu Canada’s 400 employees manufacture loop, cut & loop, cut pile, level cut & loop and scroll loop carpets, and distribute carpet tiles, laminate, engineered wood and resilient flooring; 210 employees work in the factory. Mireille currently directs factory operations, resource allocation, labor relations, and health and safety activities and manages day-to-day operations and long-term improvement projects. Leading change in organizational culture, introducing new and automated equipment to support growth and reduce constraints, and supporting employee development are also Mireille’s responsibility. Working closely with people to achieve common goals is a critical component of the job. Mireille joined Beaulieu Canada 17 years ago after completing a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering at Laval University. Earlier roles, including Industrial Engineering, Continuous Improvement Leader, Director of Yarn Manufacturing, and Director of Planning provided opportunities to develop versatility and a broader perspective, preparing Mireille for the duties and responsibilities of Plant Manager. A champion for challenging gender parity in a still traditionally male profession, Mireille encourages women interested in doing the same to “go for it and show their talent and leadership!” For anyone interested in a career in textiles, she offers this advice: “Don’t be afraid and take on the challenge of working in the textile industry, it is very motivating! The world of textiles offers a wide variety of career opportunities. Everyone can find a place where they can grow and flourish.” Beaulieu Canada designs and customizes internal training programs to welcome all new employees and foster career development, regardless of their prior knowledge of textiles. Their innovation is fueled by building relationships and sharing best practices with employees, suppliers, customers, and related organizations.. Outside working hours, Mireille paints, builds and renovates homes, spends time outdoors to relax the mind, and practices fencing, “a sport that mixes analysis and strategy with surprise and improvisation. It fills the need to surpass myself and socialize with other pirates”. Words of wisdom from Mireille include: “Be balanced: don’t overthink, don’t overdo, but do both equally. Be curious: keep trying to wrap your head around problems, and try to understand people better. Be creative: our brain has an amazing ability to make unexpected connections and create something better than what already exists. Be humble: surround yourself with people whose strengths complement your weaknesses.” |
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Industry/Academic Events Canadian July 17-21, 2022 MACRO 2022 - The 49th World Polymer Congress Winnipeg, Manitoba Call for abstracts will open shortly https://www.macro2022.org/call-for-abstracts/ International October 9-11, 2021 Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles Yarn Expo (three concurrent fairs) Shanghai https://intertextile-shanghai-apparel-fabrics-autumn.hk.messefrankfurt.com/shanghai/en.html September 30 - October 1, October 7-8, 2021 WCTC - Conference on Sustainable Finishing of Textiles Virtual https://www.technical-textiles.online/WCTC/ October 19-21, 2021 CAMX - The Composites and Advanced Materials Expo Dallas, TX https://www.thecamx.org/ October 19-22, 2021 INDEX™20, the world's leading nonwovens event Palexpo, Geneva https://www.indexnonwovens.com/en/ October 25-29, 2021 Innovate 2021: Textile Innovation Week Virtual - Registration is free https://innovate.wtin.com/ November 1-4, 2021 IFAI Expo 2021 Nashville, TN https://www.ifai.com/event/ifai-expo-2021/ November 4-5, 2021 GeoNashville (geosynthetics) Nashville, TN https://www.ifai.com/event/geonashville/ December 2, 2021 MFA Virtual Series: Marine Fabrication Around the World Virtual https://www.ifai.com/event/mfa-virtual-series-marine-fabrication-around-the-world/ |
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In 2018, after attending Macro 2018 in Cairns, Australia, we spent a few days in Sydney. We visited the Sydney Fish Market, the largest fish market in the Southern Hemisphere. Look what we found while roaming the stalls in the market - scallops and arctic surf clams from Canada! -Lena Horne |
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ITS Board of Directors 2021-2022 Officers President - Lena Horne (MB) Vice-President - Patricia Dolez (AB) Secretary - Vincent Deregnaucourt (QC) Treasurer - Sébastien Couture (QC) Directors Sogol Asghari (AB) Martin Forest (QC) Mazeyar Parvinzadeh Gashti (BC) Laura Munevar (AB) Forrest Sloan (Virginia, USA) Observers Joël Renaud (QC) Harishkumar Narayana (BC) |
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