By: Kathryn C. Dutton and Nilesh P. Ingle

A one of its kind forum was organized at the Donghua University on the Songjiang campus near Shanghai, P. R. of China during November 3 to 6, 2006, which focused on research of doctoral students from around the world. The forum titled, International Forum on Textile Science & Engineering for Doctoral Candidates was sponsored by The Academic Degrees Commission of the State Council and The Academic Degrees Administration Graduate Education Department of Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China and organized by Donghua University.

Qiqi had an opportunity to spend time with her family, who live in Shanghai, while Kate and Nilesh did some sightseeing. Thanks to the wonderful hospitality of Donghua University graduate students, Kate and Nilesh had the opportunity to see parts of downtown Shanghai including The Bund on the Huangpu River, University City in Songjiang, China, and Zhou Zhuang, an ancient city dating back to the 12th century, famous for its canals and stone bridges.

The forum consisted of special presentations from the experts from different disciplines and paper presentations by the students. The student presentations were evaluated by a panel of experts. There were following categories of sessions:
1. Composites & Nano Technology ; Modeling & Simulation
2. Characterization & Evaluation
3. Fashion & Science
4. Functional Fibers & Green Fibers
5. Performance & Property
6. Textile Chemistry & Environment

Our College of Textiles, North Carolina State University was represented on several occasions. First was the inaugural welcome speech Kathryn C. Dutton on behalf of all the students (photo below). It was an awesome speech. The audience was over 500 people including all the experts and people from the ministry of education.

Second was the plenary speech by Dr. Martin W. King at the opening ceremony titled “The challenges and rewards of doctoral studies in the twenty first century” (photo below). This was a very inspiring presentation especially for students who are currently doing research. It gave them a morale boost, so much required, to believe in their research. It gave them a hope that one day it is their own research that will give them the wings to fly, to explore the horizons of new sciences and technologies.

Third was the paper presentation by Qiqi Wang, titled "A study on nanoparticle aerosol filtration via different fibrous filters by using a CFD approach". This presentation brought a clear point in front of the audience that we at the College of Textiles are doing research in fields a lot more than traditional textiles. It gave the students a vision to look at a different facet of textiles. The one that involves use of laws of fluid mechanics and high speed computing to develop cutting edge products for high-tech applications for tomorrow.

Fourth was the paper presentation by Kathryn C. Dutton, titled “’Nonwoven’ vs. ‘Engineered Fabric’: The impact these terms have on the 15- to 25-year old female's intent to purchase”. This presentation not only reinforced that we at the College of Textiles are always into innovative research, but it also emphasized the huge impact which the findings of this study will have on the textiles market primarily in America, Europe and Asia.

Fifth was the paper presentation by Nilesh P. Ingle, titled "Tissue holding performance of barbed sutures” . Once again it brought forward the point of highly cross-disciplinary medical textile research capabilities at the College of Textiles, encompassing physiology, tissues, mechanics, polymers and medical devices.

Sixth and final was the speech by Nilesh P. Ingle at the closing ceremony (photo below). Again a student from the College of Textiles represented all the students at the forum. The speech ended lighting up the road to a whole new world of textiles in the minds of the audience of over 500. It also assured that it’s the collaborative research initiatives that will be much more efficient in exploring this new world of textiles.

Therefore, it can be said that it was an experience of a different kind. It was a forum where we not only shared our research findings, but also our personal beliefs and thoughts. All the students from the College of Textiles have won awards for their paper and presentation. After talking to many students who attended the conference, overall it has left an impression all over the world that there is one name in textiles and that is the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University.