Smart Textiles

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Smart textiles at The Hochschule Niederrhein

Textile electronics is a successful symbiosis of electrical engineering and textile and Clothing Technology.

There are countless innovative application examples in the fields of fashion, wearables, sport, lifestyle, automotive, medicine and healthcare, environmental protection, sustainability, architecture, home textiles and interior design, logistics and much more.

The Faculties of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Textile and Clothing Technology have many years of experience in the fields of smart textiles, functional coatings and micro- and nanotechnology. There is therefore close cooperation between the faculties at the university, so that electronic components can also be realized on and from textiles. These include flexible light emitters on textiles, heating textiles and other actuators as well as textile batteries, solar cells, electrodes, data conductors and sensors.

Textile electronics

The Hochschule Niederrhein has been offering Textile Electronics as a new specialization for the Master's degree programmes in Electrical Engineering and Textile Products since the winter semester 22/23.
Innovative materials, future-oriented processing technologies, complex analytical processes and aspects of sustainability, product design and project management are just some of the selected contents that are offered in an interdisciplinary, collaborative and project-oriented manner.
Qualifications in systems and applications as well as materials and processes from the disciplines of Electrical Engineering, Textile Technology and Clothing Technology are taught with concrete application examples, for example from the fields of fashion, sport and lifestyle, medicine, automotive and architecture.

The specialization is aimed at Bachelor's graduates in Electrical Engineering, Textile Technology and Clothing Technology as well as related disciplines. The course can also be taken part-time in accordance with the respective Master's degree program.

Currently, a Bachelor's program is also being developed in this subject area.

Master's focus on textile electronics

Prof. Dr. ir. Anne Schwarz-Pfeiffer

Functional Textiles and Clothing Deputy Chairman of the Examinations Board of the German Degree programmes

Room: Z 223
Phone: +49 2161 186-6133
anne.schwarz-pfeiffer(at)hs-niederrhein.de
Webschulstr. 31
D-41065 Mönchengladbach

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ekaterina Nannen

Electrical engineering, electronics

Room: F105
Phone: +49 2151 822 - 4638
Fax: +49 2151 822 - 4666
ekaterina.nannen(at)hs-niederrhein.de
Reinarzstr. 49
47805 Krefeld
Consultation:
by arrangement

Research projects and collaborations with industrial partners provide impetus for developments in the field of smart textiles.

Here are brief insights into some of the projects.

Inspiration Smart Textiles at our faculties

Here is a YouTube video. Click on it to watch. The data protection regulations of google apply!

Press review

Textile electronics Master's specialization

07/11/2023

The Master's major in Textile Electronics has successfully completed the 2nd semester.

Innovation Day

07/11/2023

Innovation day at the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology

SmartSeam

05/03/2022

SmartSeam project

Textile electronic knee support

05/03/2022

Knetex research project

View all news

SmartSeam

The aim of the SmartSeam project (IGF project 09689/19) is to use seams for functional integration in garments. Using a combination of conductive materials and other functional threads, sensors and actuators can be incorporated into a textile without an additional processing step by means of crossing and interlacing points in the seam. To achieve this, a lockstitch machine with two separate thread laying units is used. A modular protective vest with integrated optical filaments has already been realized to increase the wearer's visibility. Demonstrators with integrated movement and body physiological sensors are also being developed. The project is being carried out in cooperation with the University College Ghent (Belgium) and is funded by the AiF as part of the program for the sponsorship of joint industrial research IGF by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection.

This project is supervised by Prof. Dr. Anne Schwarz-Pfeiffer, Prof. Dr. Kerstin Zöll and Prof. Dr. Thomas Weide

Consulting

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Smart Textiles

Smart textiles at The Hochschule Niederrhein