Our latest newsletter and press articles

February 2020

Research in wool innovation

Textile and Design Lab Director, Professor Frances Joseph, and PhD student Mitali Nautiyal have been conducting a series of interviews around New Zealand with companies and research organisations involved in innovative wool based products and projects. 'This has been a very informative process and we're very grateful to all the participants for their willingness to collaborate with us', says Professor Joseph. A report on the findings of this project will be published later this year.

Digital weaving in Northland

Austrian born weaver, Agnes Hauptli, whose studio is located near Maunganui in Northland, has been producing fabrics and finished woven goods for almost 30 years.

She operates a range of dobby and jacquard looms and specialises in producing fine silk fabrics that show complex patterns and beautiful iridescence.

In 2009 she was the recipient of the Mason Trust Scholarship that enabled her to visit the UK to study jacquard weaving. Agnes was the first New Zealand weaver to employ a TC1 digital loom, made by Tronrud Engineering in Norway, which she intends upgrading to the new generation TC2 loom. As a result, her TC1 loom has become available. Interested parties should email Agnes directly at hauptliagnes@gmail.com

^{Agnes' TC1 digital loom is looking for a new home}

Lab familiarisation sessions

The lab will be hosting a series of familiarisation sessions for new students from the week commencing 9 March. Teaching staff are encouraged to contact the lab at tdl@aut.ac.nz to arrange a suitable time/date for their students to find out how the lab can support them during the course of their studies.

2020 Short course and workshop dates announced

Dates for our March/April 2020 short courses and workshops have been finalised and online registrations are now open. The courses are all two days in duration and the programme comprises of the following:

• Intoduction to Textiles
• International Textile Development and Sourcing
• E-Textiles
• 3D Simulation and Concept Development
• Knitwear Design using the Shima Seiki Apex Design System
• Photoshop Basics for Textile Design and Digital Textile Design – Repeating Patterns.

Read more and register here