TEXTILES.ORG
The Advanced Textile Products Division and Narrow Fabrics Institute, divisions of IFAI, announced the winners of the 2015 Advanced Textile Student Design Challenge Oct. 6, 2015 at IFAI Expo 2015 in Anaheim, Calif. Students were challenged to use textiles as a major component for a product designed for aerospace, medical, military, safety/protective or other wearable and non-wearable textile technology applications.
Universidad Ricardo Palma students Maria Fernanda, Isabel Lugo Prado and Wendy Rosales Martel were awarded first place for their project titled “CHUWA: Pure Water.” The team received a prize package worth $6,000, including a trip to IFAI Expo. A tensile structure engineered to filter out acid rain using permeable textile membranes and moss, CHUWA was designed to use harmful water and infertile territory for the benefit of the population in Cerro de Pasco in Peru.
Second place winners Tabitha Andelin, Holly Welwood and Regena Yu, students of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, designed a Mechanical Counter Pressure (MCP) glove to provide pressure to the hand in a zero-gravity atmosphere.
University of Wisconsin-Stout student Daniel Weispfenning was awarded third place for a cap designed to provide ear protection during high-impact aquatic sports using layers of spacer mesh fabric and rubber.
The Student Design Challenge is an annual event, established to provide recognition for student accomplishments in advanced textiles applications.