Our latest newsletter and press articles

January 2019

New TDL website goes live

The new Textile and Design Lab website went live earlier this month thanks to our colleagues in the Web Design team here at AUT. The website’s format is consistent with the new AUT site and will be rolled out across the other labs and research institutes during this year.

Visit new website

Lab to collaborate with Institute of Biomedical Technologies

AUT’s Institute of Biomedical Technologies and the Textile and Design Lab are collaborating on two research projects that will explore the potential application of textile sensors for heart and brainwave monitoring. TDL Senior Technician, Gordon Fraser, Master of Design student, Mette Hay, and Master of Creative Technologies student, Colin Anderson, will design and develop the wearable sensors, which will be put to the test by colleagues from iBtec led by Dr Andrew Lowe. The projects are being funded by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and the MedTech Centre of Research Excellence.

Graduate profile

Nikki Walker completed her Bachelor of Design in Textiles in July 2017 and is currently working towards her Master’s Degree in the same discipline. During her undergraduate programme she was given the opportunity to work with both print and knit technologies, after which she opted to focus her efforts on knitting. ‘I am constantly fascinated by what is achievable on the Shima Seiki flatbed knit machines and enjoy both the freedoms and restrictions that these systems offer’, she says.

Since graduating, Nikki took up a design role with Manawatu Knitting Mills in Palmerston North, where she developed a collection for their Native World label. The new collection was launched in September 2018. Prior to that, she won a scholarship to intern with Allbirds in San Francisco, where she worked with their design team for six weeks.

Read more

TDL associate appointment

TDL associate and recent PhD graduate, Donna Cleveland, has been appointed to a full-time lecturing role with Colab where she will teach on the Creative Technologies programme. She will also teach on the Textile Design programme as part of her remit.

Relocation update

The lab’s planned relocation to the WE Building on St Paul Street is going ahead with the intended move looking to take place in the second quarter of this year. The new location is at the centre of the campus and will provide much improved access for staff and students from across the faculty.

New courses and workshops for 2019

The lab has introduced a new 2-day workshop entitled International Textile Development and Sourcing. The workshop will cater for anyone in the business of importing textile and/or apparel goods by covering topics such as fabric development, fit for purpose, costings, sustainability and marketing.

We are in the process of redeveloping our E-Textile workshops, details for which will be available in the coming weeks.

Our registration fees remain unchanged from last year.

Read more and register for our 2019 short courses and workshops starting in April