Advanced Textiles Student Design Challenge winners announced

Published On: October 6, 2015

The Advanced Textile Products Division and Narrow Fabrics Institute, divisions of ATA, announced the winners of the 2015 Advanced Textile Student Design Challenge today at IFAI Expo 2015, which runs through Oct. 9 in Anaheim, Calif.

Universidad Ricardo Palma students Maria Fernanda, Isabel Lugo Prado and Wendy Rosales Martel were awarded first place for their project titled “CHUWA: Pure Water.” The team received a prize package worth $6,000, including a trip to IFAI Expo.

Students were challenged to use textiles as a major component for a product designed for aerospace, medical, military, safety/protective or other wearable and non-wearable textile technology applications. CHUWA—a tensile structure engineered to filter out acid rain using permeable textile membranes and moss—was designed to use harmful water and infertile territory for the benefit of the population in Cerro de Pasco in Peru.

Second place winners Tabitha Andelin, Holly Welwood and Regena Yu, students of the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, designed a Mechanical Counter Pressure (MCP) glove to provide pressure to the hand in a zero-gravity atmosphere.

University of Wisconsin–Stout student Daniel Weispfenning was awarded third place for a cap designed to provide ear protection during high-impact aquatic sports using layers of spacer mesh fabric and rubber.

To decrease the loss of agricultural land in Peru, the CHUWA tensile structure is designed to collect and filter polluted water to create microclimates suitable for hydroponic vegetable gardening. Photo courtesy of Maria Fernanda, Isabel Lugo Prado and Wendy Rosales Martel, Universidad Ricardo Palma

To decrease the loss of agricultural land in Peru, the CHUWA tensile structure is designed to collect and filter polluted water to create microclimates suitable for hydroponic vegetable gardening. Photo courtesy of Maria Fernanda, Isabel Lugo Prado and Wendy Rosales Martel, Universidad Ricardo Palma

Designed for use in space, the Mechanical Counter Pressure glove is a fitted two-layer knit glove featuring finger crotch padding, a wrist strap and compression plates that are tightened via the Boa® Coiler™ brand closure system. Photo courtesy of Tabitha Andelin, Holly Welwood and Regena Yu, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

Designed for use in space, the Mechanical Counter Pressure glove is a fitted two-layer knit glove featuring finger crotch padding, a wrist strap and compression plates that are tightened via the Boa® Coiler™ brand closure system. Photo courtesy of Tabitha Andelin, Holly Welwood and Regena Yu, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

The protective cap shields ears from impact during aquatic team sports using five layers of hydrophobic spacer mesh fabric and four layers of rubber. The textile-based approach allows the athlete more comfort than plastic-based protectors do. Photo courtesy of Daniel Weispfenning, University of Wisconsin–Stout

The protective cap shields ears from impact during aquatic team sports using five layers of hydrophobic spacer mesh fabric and four layers of rubber. The textile-based approach allows the athlete more comfort than plastic-based protectors do. Photo courtesy of Daniel Weispfenning, University of Wisconsin–Stout