About 145 professionals in product development, material science, and new technologies convened for the 11th conference edition of RISE—Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics, held virtually, Sept. 28-30. The event was co-organized by INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, The Nonwovens Institute and North Carolina State University. 

The program focused on Nonwoven Material Science Developments, Sustainability, Increasing Circularity, Promising Innovations, Process Innovations, Material Innovations, Government/NGO Challenges to Single-Use Plastics, Machine-Assisted-Learning Development of Biopolymers, and Market Intelligence and Economic Insights. 

Participants praised the high-quality program content, in-depth round table discussions, networking and Q&A’s where participants ask expert speakers questions pertaining to their focused presentations.

“RISE provides our industry with the latest in nonwoven technologies, sustainability, and market intelligence. Numerous times I reached out to colleagues to discuss what I was hearing that started the creative juices flowing!”  Bryan D. Haynes, Ph.D., Senior Technical Director, Kimberly-Clark Corporation

“I think more than any other year, RISE 2021 has given me insights into the next generation of fibers. My mind is full of ideas of how we can use these new innovations in nonwoven products for our clients, that are going to improveboth consumers’ quality of life as well as be more thoughtful to the environment. RISE has become one of our most important conferences in the nonwoven calendar.” Heidi Beatty, Consultant, Crown Abbey

“It’s important for the nonwovens industry, to have easy and regular communication with customers, suppliers and peers.  RISE provided a wealth of technical insight and a chance to have an open dialog to help innovate and create opportunities.” Nick Lane, Account Manager, Devan North America, LLC

“I’ve enjoyed virtual RISE this year and especially getting the wide range of current insights and discussion on the important topic of sustainability – from biopolymers to regulation to machine learning.  We all as an industry need to work together to find the solutions that are needed, and this was a great way to get some cross-pollination of practical ideas.” Diane Toonen, Global Strategic Marketing Director, Global Nonwovens Business Unit, Bostik

“The quality of content for the virtual RISE conference, as usual, was very informative and interesting.  The virtual presentations and follow-up Q&A sessions via Zoom was an effective alternative.” Jon Woods General Manager, Fibers, Textiles and Nonwovens, Eastman Chemical Company

“So many pertinent and relevant topics were covered over the three-day format giving RISE leading status as the “go-to” technology conference focusing on nonwoven and engineered fabrics.” Jeffrey Bassett, Managing Director, Fi-Tech, Inc.

Highlights among the 26 presentations included Sustainable Solutions for our Plastic Planet Predicament, by Marc A. Hillmyer, Ph.D., McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair, University of Minnesota; Closed-Loop Recycling Pilot of Single-Use Face Masks by Peter Dziezok, Ph.D., Director of Open Innovation, Proctor & Gamble; Innovating a Sustainable Future for Nonwovens: A European Perspective, by Matt Tipper, Ph.D., CEO, Nonwovens Innovation & Research Institute (NIRI); Phantom Platform: The Polyolefin-cellulose Coformed Substrates Technology, by Fabio Zampollo, CEO and Founder of Teknoweb Materials;  Guiding Environmentally Sustainable Innovations – From Reactive to Proactive Life Cycle Management, by Valentina Prado, Ph.D., Senior Sustainability Analyst, EarthShift Global LLC;   High-Loft, Ultra-Soft Hygiene Solutions, Paul E. Rollin, Ph.D., Senior Principal Scientist – Global Hygiene, Propylene-Vistamaxx-Adhesion (PVA) Global Technology, ExxonMobil Chemical Company; and Canadian Plastic Policy Update, by Karyn M. Schmidt, Senior Director, Regulatory & Technical Affairs, American Chemistry Council (ACC). 

For information on the 12th edition of the Research, Innovation & Science for Engineered Fabrics (RISE®) conference in 2021, visit inda.org