Beyond e-Textiles: fourth iterative workshop

The fourth biannual workshop of the 'Beyond e-Textiles' project was organized on November 2-4, 2022 at the University of Borås (Sweden). The workshop agenda was as follows:

The fourth biannual workshop concluded the third iteration period of the project. The event focused on exploring different textile structures for enabling multifunctionalities, strategies for testing industrial processes (weaving), and speculations on artifacts and design. 

Participating institutions:
-Aalto University (Aalto)
-University of Turku (UTU)
-VIA University College (VIA)
-University of Borås (UB)
-Iceland University of the Arts (IUA)

The first day of the programme started with an extensive lab tour of the facilities of the Textile Fashion Center at the University of Borås, including DoTank Center and Smart Textiles Showroom. Postdoctoral researcher Riikka Talman gave a lecture on weaving and talked about work implemented so far. The following discussion focused on the role of weaving in the project and the potential for material speculations.

On the second day, we had a session with two very interesting presentations - on smart colour systems by Associate Professor in Textile Design Marjan Kooroshnia and on multisensorial textile design by doctoral candidate in Textile Interaction Design Erin Lewis. ​The workshop 'Speculations on artifacts and design' involved extensive sharing of knowledge and expertise with each team presenting physical output created so far and speculating on each other's work. The second part of the workshop focused on developing definition and structuring of material categories.

At the Steering Board meeting, team leaders discussed a range of topics such as overall strategy, contractual issues, conflict resolution, fair data principles, risk assessment, as well as adjustments to the grant application. 'Nordic Added Value' was suggested as one of the possible themes of the next iterative workshop in June 2023. In addition, participants talked about scenario building, the working process of team members and the ways research work could be supported within the project team in an interdisciplinary way.

The final day of the workshop involved presentations by the project's doctoral candidates Zahra Madani (Aalto) and Alicja Lawrynowicz (UTU). The event ended with a fruitful discussion summarizing current progress and determining strategies for next steps.  

This event was (partly) supported by NordForsk through the funding to Nordic network on smart light-conversion textiles beyond electric circuits, project number 103894.

More about 'Beyond e-Textiles' project

Workshop gallery

*Photos: Aalto University / Giulnara Launonen

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Workshop outcomes

• The third round of experimental iterations was concluded, and directions for the next iteration period were identified.
• There was an extensive tour around textile facilities of The Swedish School of Textiles (University of Borås), including Do Tank and Smart Textiles Showroom. 
• The programme involved discussions on the role of weaving in the project, and strategies for testing industrial processes in weaving were considered. 
• Speculations on artefacts and design were initiated: physical output (samples/artefacts) was presented by partner institutions, and discussions progressed by means of giving feedback on each other's work, as well as through sharing of knowledge and expertise, and exploring various perspectives.