Keynote Speakers
Melanie Hoerr
3E Smart Solutions
Melanie Hoerr studied Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University in Germany. After earning her diploma, she spent 5.5 years at the Department of Textile Technologies at RWTH Aachen as a research assistant and team leader of the research group Functional Textiles and Smart Textiles. She also completed a research internship at the Printed, Textile & Flexible Electronics Laboratory at Microsoft’s Applied Science Group in Redmond, WA.
Since June 2016, she has been Head of Product Design & Innovation for Smart & E-Textiles at ZSK TECHNICAL EMBROIDERY SYSTEMS, supporting customers worldwide with e-textile product development. In January 2023, she founded 3E Smart Solutions, an SBU of ZSK, focused on mass-producible e-textile development, training, and consulting.
Keynote Title: From Thread to Function: Industrial Embroidery as a Platform Technology for E-Textiles
Industrial embroidery has evolved far beyond decorative applications — today, it represents a scalable, programmable manufacturing platform for functional electronic textiles.
This keynote examines the practical realities of embroidery-based e-textile production from four perspectives: First, it introduces the fundamentals of embroidered conductors, including material selection, design parameters and the limitations encountered in production environments. Second, it explores moss-embroidered electrodes for biosignal acquisition, including ECG, EMG and EEG, and discusses their potential in relation to signal quality, comfort and wearability. Third, it presents methods for integrating rigid and flexible printed circuit boards directly into the embroidery process. Finally, it addresses the transition from laboratory prototypes to industrial production, drawing on lessons learned from real customer projects.
The talk closes with an honest assessment of where the field stands today — and an open discussion on what still needs to be solved before embroidery-based e-textiles can reach their full industrial potential.
Dr. Laura Devendorf
Assistant Professor of Information Science, University of Colorado Boulder
Laura Devendorf is a design researcher working at the intersection of craft and engineering. Her personal practice explores how technology shapes reflection, particularly around experiences of motherhood. As director of the Unstable Design Lab, she works collectively with faculty, students, and visiting artists to build communities around “experimental weaving,” a term that captures a broad range of approaches to and applications of woven structures across art and science. Over the last several years, she has also led the design of AdaCAD, an open-source computer-aided design tool that applies the principles of computational design to the creation of woven structures. Her research has received several Best Paper Awards in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and has been supported by a U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award. Laura is an Associate Professor of Information Science in the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. She received her PhD from the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley, and holds bachelor’s
Keynote Title: Weaving Counterfactual Narratives of Technical Progress Counterfactual thinking is a form of asking “what if” questions that consider how the present might have unfolded if historical events had different outcomes. In this talk, I draw from my research as an artist, computer scientist, and design researcher to present a counterfactual narrative of technical progress rooted in my deep fascination with and immersion in the world of complex weaving—the practice of creating complex 3D, electronic, and/or robotic structures. For example, how might our relationships with devices change if we handcrafted them from fiber, mended them with thin metals, and adapted them to our changing bodies with crochet hooks? I weave together historical narratives of textiles and technology with the work of students and artists-in-residence at the Unstable Design Lab to craft a vision of technology that emphasizes humility, care, and community.
Session speakers
Dr. Ken Loh
Professor of Structural Engineering, UC San Diego
Dr. Ken Loh is the TaylorMade Golf Chancellor’s Endowed Professor in the Departments of Structural Engineering, Chemical & Nano Engineering, and Materials Science & Engineering at UC San Diego. He is the Director of the Active, Responsive, Multifunctional, and Ordered-materials Research (ARMOR) Lab and the Jacobs School of Engineering, Center for Extreme Events Research (CEER). He is also an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Wearable Sensors. Dr. Loh received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 2004. His graduate studies were at the University of Michigan, where he completed two M.S. degrees in Structural Engineering (2005) and Materials Science & Engineering (2008), as well as a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering in 2008. He started his career in academia in December 2008 as an Assistant Professor and then Associate Professor at UC Davis, before joining UC San Diego in January 2016. His research interests are in nanocomposites, wearable sensors, and metamaterials for solving problems in human performance, structural sustainment, and human-structure interactions. Dr. Loh is also an Engineering Duty Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve and a co-founder of a start-up, JAK Labs, Inc.
Keynote Title: Elastic Fabric Motion Tape Sensors for Human Performance Assessment
We live to move, whether it is for work, recreation, or to carry out day-to-day tasks and duties. In terms of sports and the military, improving and optimizing how we move can result in better performance, such as hitting a golf ball more accurately or demonstrating excellent marksmanship. This presentation discusses the development of an individualized Human Digital Twin that uses machine learning algorithms to process novel wearable sensor data for identifying movement deficiencies and providing user-specific feedback. A self-adhesive, elastic fabric, nanocomposite, skin-strain sensor called “Motion Tape” was developed, tested in controlled laboratory environments, and validated through human subject studies. Motion Tape is not only able to measure skin-strains during functional movements, but their measurements are also correlated with how muscles engage. Participants wore Motion Tapes at major muscle groups, and exercises that simulated sports and military training activities were performed. Then, machine learning algorithms were implemented and trained using labeled Motion Tape datasets, specifically, to classify movement sequences and to detect anomalies associated with poor performance. The information derived could be used as direct feedback to augment behavior for improving performance.
Dr. Shaila Afroj
Associate Professor of Sustainable Materials, University of Exeter
Professor Shaila Afroj is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Materials in the Department of Engineering at the University of Exeter, UK. Her research focuses on graphene and other two-dimensional materials-enabled electronic textiles (e-textiles), sustainable digital manufacturing, and wearable technologies for healthcare applications.
She is also Co-Director of the EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) at the University of Exeter, leading strategic doctoral training and research development in engineering and physical sciences.
Keynote Title: Sustainable and Circular Graphene E-Textiles: From Materials Innovation to Healthcare Impact
Electronic textiles have the potential to transform healthcare by enabling comfortable, continuous physiological monitoring while seamlessly integrating into everyday clothing. As wearable technologies become more widespread, improving their sustainability and reducing electronic waste are equally important. Graphene-enabled e-textiles, combined with sustainable materials, digital manufacturing, and circular design principles, offer a pathway towards the next generation of wearable healthcare technologies. Recent advances in materials, manufacturing, and design are accelerating the translation of wearable e-textiles from the laboratory to clinical and everyday applications, delivering meaningful healthcare impact while supporting a more sustainable future.
Dr. Leonardo Cappello
Assistant Professor, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
Leonardo Cappello is a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor at the BioRobotics Institute – Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Italy), where he leads the Textile Robotics Lab. He works on the design of textile-based robotic wearables for human sensorimotor restoration and augmentation. His research interests include haptics, assistive and rehabilitation robotics, prosthetics and orthotics, and motor neurosciences. He was recently awarded with the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC StG) for the project MUsculoSkeletal Expansion (MUSE). Leonardo Cappello graduated in Mechanical Engineering (BS) in 2009 and in Biomedical Engineering (MS) in 2011 at the University of Florence, Italy. In 2016 he accomplished his PhD in “Robotics, Cognition and Interaction Technologies” at the Italian Institute of Technology. During his PhD, he was visiting student at the Nanyang Technological University, Robotics Research Centre, Singapore (2014 – 2015). He was Postdoctoral Researcher at Harvard University and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, where he worked on soft wearable robots for upper limb sensorimotor restoration (2016 – 2017). He was then Postdoctoral Researcher at the BioRobotics Institute – Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Italy) – investigating advanced robotic prostheses and prosthetic techniques for the upper extremities (2017-2022).
Keynote Title: Transcending the paradigm of wearing a robot – The MusculoSkeletal Expansion
Milan Baxa
Applycon
TBC
Keynote Title: TBC
Angelika Willcock
Otto Bock
Keynote Title: What Medical Device Manufacturers Expect from E-Textile Developers
E-textiles offer significant potential for medical applications such as continuous monitoring and patient-centered care. However, only few concepts successfully transition into certified medical devices. This presentation provides an industry perspective on what medical device manufacturers expect from e-textile developers. It highlights key requirements including biocompatibility, long-term reliability, mechanical robustness, data quality, and compliance with regulatory standards such as MDR and ISO frameworks.
Dr. Frederick Bossuyt
Imec
TBC
Keynote Title: TBC
Dr. Becky Stewart
Associate Professor, Imperial College London
Dr Becky Stewart is an Associate Professor in Interactive Systems in the Dyson School of Design Engineering at Imperial College London. She leads the e-Body Lab, a research team that develops e- textile systems to build wearable interfaces for multi-modal interactions using haptics and audio. Her research centres around the body and how technology can be used to improve how that body interacts with the surrounding environment. She completed the PhD with the Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary University of London in 2010, the MSc at the University of York in 2006, and the BM at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in 2005. After her PhD and before returning to academia, Becky co-founded Codasign, a creative technology education company that ran workshops at institutions including the V&A, Tate Modern, and British Museum teaching kids and adults how to use technology to develop creative projects. During that time she also worked with artists to engineer interactive artworks from CCTV jackets to turning suspension bridges into musical instruments.
Keynote Title: Engineering Through Fashion
Too often fashion and garment design is considered towards the end of a wearable technology project – if they are ever considered at all. However, garment design and the wealth of expertise within fashion disciplines should be incorporated in e-textile projects from the beginning and not solely to make prototypes aesthetically pleasing. This talk will argue that garment construction and material considerations are not only essential for social acceptance of smart clothing, but are needed to produce reliable and robust sensing and actuation systems that are optimally designed for the body.