Unifi Introduces Repreve® 100-Percent Recycled Polyester

Visit the manufacturer website for more info:

http://unifi.com/index.aspx

New Oeko-Tex® Criteria Come into Force

See the press release at the following link:

http://www.oeko-tex.com/OekoTex100_PUBLIC/content3.asp?area=nebenmenue&site=presseinformationen&cls=02&id=692

See new limit values at the following link:

http://www.oeko-tex.com/OekoTex100_PUBLIC/content1.asp?area=hauptmenue&site=grenzwerte&cls=02

Lingerie Market

• Total lingerie market size is estimated at US$33bn per annum
• Size of the American Market is US$11.03bn
• Size of the Western European Market is US$11.56bn
• US and EU together account for 68.4% of the total market
• Asia represents 19.6% of the market
• Western market is slowing down
• Russia, China and India are among the emerging markets
• Global lingerie market has grown in recent years at the rate of 3% per annum
• Asian lingerie market has grown in recent years at the rate of 8% per annum
• Main competitors in the global intimate apparel industry include Aerie by American Eagle, Cupid Foundations, Fruit of the Loom, Hanesbrands, Jockey International, The Lane Bryant division of Charming Shoppes, The Soma division of Chico’s, Spanx, Triumph International, The Victoria’s Secret division of Limited Brands, Wacoal Corp and The Warnaco Group
• Italian brands - Idea, Stella, and La Perla;
• French brands - Lady De Paris, Christian Lacroix;
• German brand - Nina Von, Felina;
• Spanish brands - Othaik, Princesa;
• American brands -Playtex, Wonderbra

Source: just-style

Bangladeshi Textile & Clothing Industry

-Total woven and knitwear exports for July 2007 to June 2008 are valued at US$10.69bn

- Ready-made garment export target for June 2008 to July 2009 is projected at growing 15.5% to US$16.298bn, with a target of US$6.5bn for knitwear and US$5.68bn in woven goods

- Export targets are US$25bn a year by 2013.

-Major international buyers of Bangladeshi clothing include: H&M, Tesco, Zara, Marks & Spencer, Carrefour, Gap, Wal-Mart and JC Penney

- Number of Bangladeshi garment factories were 4,700 in 2007-2008

- Local brands include Artisti, Seal, Westex and Cat's Eye

- The cost of one dozen polo shirts produced in 2007 was 2007 it was US$37.95. By comparison, in Cambodia the same would cost US$48.69, or in India US$53.96

Major Challenges

- 25% shortage of skilled workers and middle management

- worker unrest and strikes over poor pay and conditions

- Energy shortage

- Poor infrastructure

Source: just-style

Designing and Teaching Engineering Laboratory Courses

One of the desired learning outcomes of an engineering laboratory course is that the student should be able to:

• Design experiments
• Conduct (or simulate) experiments
• Report experimental results in the form of suitable tables, graphs, etc.
• Analyse experimental results
• Interpret experimental results
• Develop a mathematical model or computer simulation to correlate or interpret experimental results
• Give reasoning/explanation of experimental results
• List and discuss possible reasons for any deviation from predicted/expected and the actual/measured results
• Select the most likely reason for any deviation from the prediction/expectation
• Justify the selected reason for any deviation of the results
• Formulate a method to validate the selected reason/explanation

It is not advisable to give students pre-designed experiments in an engineering laboratory course. This way they will not develop the ability to design the experiments themselves. Rather than assigning them a large number of pre-designed experiments, it is better to assign them a fewer number of problems that require experimentation for solution. Let the students design experiments themselves in order to find solution to the assigned problem through experimentation. However, it is the duty of the teacher to provide students instruction and resources in areas such as:

• Experimental design
• Statistical analysis
• Instrument calibration
• Estimation of error
• Equipment operation, etc.

The teacher should also prescribe a lab report format that includes sections on:

• Problem statement
• Material and equipment
• Experimental design
• Experimental procedure
• Results and discussion
• References

For engineering laboratory courses, it is good to form student teams comprising four members each with one of the following roles:

• Experimental Designer: who determines number of experimental runs to be carried out to solve the assigned problem, the conditions of each run, data to be collected in each run, and the required data analysis
• Operations Supervisor and Safety Monitor: who coordinates conduct of the experiment including instrument calibration, necessary precautions, operation and data recording
• Data Analyst/Statistician: who coordinates (statistical) analysis of the data collected in the experiment including estimation of error
• Theorist: who coordinates interpretation of the results in the light of the existing theories, reasoning/explanation, development of mathematical model and simulation to correlate or interpret results

The above given roles of the student team members should rotate from one lab experiment to the next.

References:

[1] “Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs”, http://www.abet.org accessed on 18-01-09

[2] R. M. Felder and R. Brent, “Designing and Teaching Courses to Satisfy the ABET Engineering Criteria”, Journal of Engineering Education, 92 (1), 7-25 (2003)

[3] M. J. Myers and A. B. Burgess, “Inquiry-Based Laboratory Course Improves Students’ Ability to Design Experiments and Interpret Data”, Advances in Physiology Education 27: 26-33, 2003

Designing and Teaching Courses to Satisfy the ABET Engineering Criteria

Please see this article at the following link:

http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/ABET_Paper_(JEE).pdf

Indian Textile Industry - Key Facts

-India's second-largest employers after agriculture
-Employed 35 million workers last year
-Contributed 4% of India's gross domestic product
-Accounted for 13.5% of Indian exports, bringing in $17.6 billion.


Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122990332938125097.html

Writing Effective Learning Outcomes

Please see my presentation on this topic at the following link:

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?docid=dghpg2vr_116fj2r47gt&hl=en

Technical Textiles

Please see my presentation on this topic at the following link:

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?docid=dghpg2vr_2gxpsknf3&hl=en

Industry-University Interaction

Please see my presentation on this topic at the following link:

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dghpg2vr_62078k5j6cs