The Industrial Fabrics Foundation (IFF) recently announced the winners of the 2020 IFF Innovation Award, which encourages companies around the globe to ‘weave tomorrow's ideas into the fabrics of today’. However, this year’s winner has 3D knitted tomorrow’s ideas into the fabrics of today. The first-place winner was awarded to Propel LLC for its Propel LLC Smart Integrated Shirt project.

Propel’s US Navy funded smart shirt includes 3-patent pending innovations to monitor the physiology of the wearer in a garment that looks and feels no different than any other first layer garment. This shirt is made with Propel’s proprietary electrically enabled yarn that looks, feels and behaves like a traditional yarn but has the conductive elements needed for transmitting data and power.

The shirt has solder-free textile connectors that are soft and flexible for wearer comfort and user-transparency. All components within this shirt are US sourced. This project led to 3 patent pending technologies.

The second place, Honorable Mention, award was given to MMI Textiles for its project EcoThriv Environmentally Preferred Performance Fabrics. EcoThriv is a made in the US line of environmentally preferred performance fabrics. It was developed using some of the most responsible and innovative fibres and finishes on the market, the IFF says. These fabrics are better for the environment and perform at a high level, it adds.

Both of the winning projects are recognized in the IFAI Hub at IFAI Virtual Expo 2020. To learn more about each of the winning projects, you can view the video below that describes each project in depth…

The Industrial Fabrics Foundation (IFF) is the non-profit 501(c)(3) organization of the industrial fabrics industry, dedicated to education and research in specialty fabrics. IFF partners with the Industrial Fabrics Association International to support growth and innovation.

Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) is a member-owned, member-driven trade association representing the global industrial fabrics industry since 1912. IFAI provides members with relevant information, sourcing solutions and networking opportunities to sustain and grow their business.

IFAI Website