HACKTEX Innovative smart textiles & entrepreneurship
Mission
The textiles manufacturing sector in Europe is facing several major challenges, among others competition from emerging markets, further increase in digitalization and environmental demands (concerning sectoral sustainability and targeting climate neutrality).
In order to tackle the current and future needs, Europe requires reassessing its position on critical factors affecting its competitiveness like uniqueness of its products, skills of its workforce and innovation as a means of competitive advantage. Smart textiles represent a large group of advanced textiles with new or enhanced/dynamic functions obtained using high-performance raw materials and specialized chemical and physical treatments. Even if up to now most research in the field have not transitioned toward the industry, they are an answer to the changes experienced by the sector, the decrease caused by the pandemics and the need to adapt to the requirements of Industry 4.0, creating resilience for the sector. The domain of smart textiles can have a wide impact on the economy of EU countries due to the wide applicability range for smart textile products: medicine, automotive and aeronautics, sports, personal protective and for building & living, etc.
In order to foster the innovation growth within textile companies, higher education systems need to extend the inclusion of smart textiles knowledge in their engineering programs as a way to unlock the innovation potential advanced textile manufacturing industry has when combined with other sectors and sciences, in a transdisciplinary approach. This need has to be addressed based on adapted methodologies and tools that The HACKTEX project focuses on both the needs for digital education responding to the identified gaps and mismatches related to skills and competences that are needed to open up new opportunities enabled by smart textiles research into advanced textiles' manufacturing. It will provide HEIs with valuable methodologies and tools to use in day-to-day training future specialists in the field of advanced/smart textiles. The skills generated based on the tools and methodologies developed by HACTEX for digital training will then transfer to the industry.
Objectives
- To support higher education students to acquire skills in transdisciplinary innovation based on smart textiles.
- To foster student cooperation multidisciplinary approach in hands-on projects – To provide knowledge, skills and competences using virtual learning methodologies and tools.
- To promote the application of good practices for the enhancement of innovative skills
- To strengthen collaboration between HEIs from textile industry with advanced textile industry.
Entitat finançadora
Responsables equip UPC
Mònica Ardanuy i Heura Ventura
Codi projecte
2021-1-RO01-KA220-HED-000027527
Dates
Data inici: Gener Febrer 2022
Data finalització: Juliol 2024
Pàgina web
Comparteix: