HKRITA hosts Innovation & Technology Symposium

With the theme of “The Future of Innovation”, the symposium invited a number of speakers to shed light on topics that concerned the textiles and clothing industry. It not only serves as an interactive platform among the industry players, researchers and scholars, but also paves the way for new solutions to challenges.

As Dr Harry Lee, Chairman of HKRITA, said, the symposium “will not only be a day of technical discussions, but also a strategic look at the way forward.” HKRITA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Fiber Innovation Incubator of Shinshu University. The university is a well-known research institutes in textiles and clothing. The MOU fosters further cooperation between academia and industry professionals.

During the event, the textiles and clothing industry renewed its support for sustainable development. Mr Arthur C Huang, the Founder and Managing Director of MINIWIZ Sustainable Energy Development Limited shared his insights on executable eco-solutions to solve urban waste problem, explaining the possibility of sustainable economic growth based on renewable resources. Sharing with similar vision, HKRITA also provides production alternatives on energy saving measures and sustainable development practices in terms of new technologies.

Mr Frazer Mead, Head of Innovation and Quality, Far East, Marks and Spencer (Asia Pacific) Limited presented the topic of “Innovation – Perspective from a Global Brand”. The presentation explored the world of innovation from a global perspective across a wide variety of industries. HKRITA is dedicated to developing advanced technologies that are applicable to different aspects of the society, similar to the speaker’s idea on innovation which transcends the boundaries of industries.

Continuing to look into the future, polymer-rich functional nanocomposite fiber material was discussed as one of the most important strategic materials for the economy and people's livelihood. Professor Zhu Meifang, Dean of College of Material Science and Engineering, Dong Hua University, introduced the development process, applications and research directions of the material.

Since the material has a wide application, such as military industry, aerospace industry, electronic industry and architecture industry, more studies on this issue are found recently. In the light of future development, Professor Zhu encouraged the government to give more resources to relevant research programme and training for researchers. The industry should also seize every opportunity to understand relevant technology development.

HKRITA announced the first RITA Award in the Symposium to acknowledge the hard works and ideas of researchers, and their contributions to research development and technology advancement in the textiles and apparel industry.