About My Research

This site serves as a reflection of my graduate thesis work in automotive textile design at North Carolina State University.  I began this site in January 2009 and plan to maintain it until my graduation in December 2009.  I have been in the graduate program at the College of Textiles for 1 year of a 2 year program.  During this first year, I have focused on the automotive industry, design, and sustainability.  Now at the half-way point, I have selected my thesis topic and made plans as to how to approach my research so that my work is complete by October 2009.  In the right column of this blog, I have posted my personal timeline to ensure that I am meeting my deadlines.  Please take time to look through all the information included in the right hand column, especially if this is your first time visiting this site.

The purpose of this site is 3-fold.
1) Most scholars are only given 1 chance to write a thesis, and 2 years to learn how to do so.  Sure there are books on research methods and databases of theses to form a background or starting place for your work, but no one really explains to us exactly what this process is like from start to finish.
2) Over the past year, I have learned beyond my expectations about the automotive industry, past, current, and future.  Throughout my next year of study, I have access to resources that would be coveted by any designer in this industry and plan to uncover valuable correlations between design and success.  I will post many images and articles which I find the most enriching.
and 3) Writing my thoughts and progress where it is publicly available will encourage me to meet deadlines and provide a clear platform to keep my committee informed.

My Topic
I will be examining the history of automotive bodycloth development and aligning this with outside factors such as the economy, increase in mass production, increase in technical standards and regulations, the importance of fashion and color, along with what at this time is an unpredictable number of additional variables.  The ultimate question I aim to answer is if there is a concrete way to measure and predict success in order to save time, money, and resources.

5.24.2010

American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists

Last week I attended the 2010 AATCC International Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.  The focus of this year's conference was "Innovation and Sustainability Bring New Life to Textiles".  The conference was co-located with ATME-I MEGATEX 2010 as part of the Textile and Sewn Products Industry Week.  Techtextil North America and SPESA Expo also ran concurrently.

On the first day of the conference, I presented my thesis research on automotive textile color trends.  Although few attendees were experts on the automotive industry, I received much positive feedback regarding my topic and approach.

Attending this conference was a great opportunity for networking and learning more about the textile industry and key players globally.  Some the most interesting presentations I attended were in the Concept 2 Consumer track.  These included Sarah Kang of Chico's presentation on Color Consistency from Concept to Production, Tiffany Eubanks of Inspired Design Solutions' presentation on Traditional Textile Printing in Today's Digital Age, Stephen Fraser of Spoonflower's presentation on People-powered Textile Design, Danielle Locastro of First2Print's presentation on Digital Printing Dresses Up Couture Fashion for Michael Angel, and the research of NCSU College of Textile's Nancy Powell, Lisa Parillo-Chapman and Amani Shaker, whose topic focused on Consumer Perception of Quality in Jaquard Woven and Printed Fabrics for Home Furnishings.



On the last day of the conference, I made my way through the week's textile expo.  Hundreds of global companies were in attendance, and I was able to take the time to sit down with consultants from Lectra, and DataColor, two digital textile technologies companies of great value to automotive industry.


In addition to the conference, those of you who follow me know that I enjoy taking full advantage of my travel, whether it be for pleasure or business.  On the drive to Atlanta, I stayed with friends in Spartanburg, SC and made a trip into Greenville, SC- one of the most quaint towns I've come to love.  While in Atlanta, I spent time strolling Centennial Park and Decatur Street, enjoying the local cuisine, and even attended an exciting Braves MLB game.  On the way back, I stopped in Marietta to see a friend's childhood neighborhood and walked along the Chattahoochee River on a beautiful Thursday afternoon.

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