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We’re happy to share the program for ITS Symposium 2026. Check out the information below to see what’s planned so far. Feel free to reach out with any questions!​​​

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Program

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Tuesday, March 3, 2026

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7:45 - 08:00 am MT        09:45 - 10:00 am EST

Greetings & Land Acknowledgements

Welcome words: Montréal, Edmonton, Raleigh

 

Opening Talk

 

08:00 - 08:30 am MT     10:00 - 10:30 am EST

Regulatory Changes for the Textile Industry. Rajath Kumar, Vice President - Global Softlines, Intertek, USA.

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Comfort & Protection

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08:30 - 09:00 am MT     10:30 - 11:00 am EST

Pressure Effects on Thermal Resistance in Nonwoven Sleeping Bag Textiles. Dr. Stéphane Hallé, Professor, École de technologie supérieure, QC.

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09:00 - 09:30 am MT     11:00 - 11:30 am EST

Beyond PFAS: Sustainable Nanofiber Membranes for Protective Textile Applications. Dr. Zahra Abdali, Chief Technology Officer, PlasmaGear, QC.

 

3- min Poster Presentations

 

09:30 - 10:15 am MT    11:30 - 12:15 pm EST

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Poster Session in Edmonton/Lunch break in Montréal and Raleigh

 

10:15 - 11:00 am MT    12:15 - 01:00 pm EST

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Inclusive & Accessible Fashion

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11:00 - 11:30 am MT     01:00 - 01:30 pm EST

Collaboration, Creativity, and Care in Fashion Education. Caron Phinney, Assistant Professor, Alida Finnie & Amelia June Ferguson, Toronto Metropolitan University, ON..

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11:30 - 12:00 pm MT     01:30 - 02:00 pm EST

FashionAble: Innovation in Accessible, Adaptive, & Universal Fashion Design. Chloë Angus, Fashion Designer & Creative Director, Chloë Angus Design, BC.

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3- min Poster Presentations

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12:00 - 12:15 pm MT    02:00 - 02:15 pm EST

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Lunch break in Edmonton / Poster Session in Montréal and Raleigh

 

12:15 - 01:00 pm MT    02:15 - 03:00 pm EST

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Student Research Corner

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01:00 - 01:15 pm MT     03:00 - 03:15 pm EST: 

Reducing microplastic fiber shedding from hand-washed polyester. Amanuel Goliad, Samuel Au, Kevin Golovin, University of Toronto, ON

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01:15 - 01:30 pm MT     03:15 - 03:30 pm EST

Proof-of-Concept of an End-of-Life Sensor for Liquid-Repellency Monitoring of Medical Gown Fabrics. Elaine Phu, Elika Kaviannasab, Lelia Lawson, Dan King, Patricia Dolez, University of Alberta, AB / Davey Textile Solutions, AB.

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01:30 - 01:45 pm MT     03:30 - 03:45 pm EST

Setup Development and Comparative Analysis of the Infrared Performance of Fabrics. Rupali, Adrian Lai, Robert Gathercole, Patricia Dolez, University of Alberta, AB / lululemon, BC.

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01:45 - 02:00 pm MT     03:45 - 04:00 pm EST

Use of Parametric Design to Support Garment Customization for Individuals with Atypical Body Size/Shape. Justin Raines, Isabel Prochner, Yuanqing Tian, Patricia Dolez, Virginia Polytechnique and State University, VA / North Carolina State University, NC / University of Alberta, AB.

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69th Annual General Meeting

 

02:00 - 03:30 pm MT     04:00 - 05:30 pm EST

Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Textile Science (ITS)

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Reception

 

06:00 pm MT     06:00 pm EST

 

Edmonton Location: Atrium, Agriculture/Forestry Center, University of Alberta

Montréal, Location: Room 3019, École de Santé Publique , Université de Montréal

Raleigh, Location: Room 2431, Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University

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Wednesday, March 4, 2026

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Sustainability

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08:00 - 08:30 am MT    10:00 - 10:30 am EST

Made-in-Canada lyocell fibre from hemp and recycled fabrics. Dr. Patricia Dolez, Professor, University of Alberta, AB.

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08:30 - 09:00 am MT    10:30 - 11:00 am EST

Making progress towards 2030 goals at manufacturing facilities. Jimmy Summers, Chief Sustainability Officer, Elevate Textiles, USA.

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Student Research Corner

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09:00 - 09:15 am MT     11:00 - 11:15 am EST: 

Optical Sensor Integrated Textile Platform for Wearable Cardiovascular Function Monitoring. Tharushi Peiris, Arash Shahidi, Demosthenes Koutsogeorgis, Carlos Oliviera, Theo Hughes-Riley, Nottingham Trent University, UK.

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09:15 - 09:30 am MT     11:15 - 11:30 am EST

Textile-Compatible Connectors and Flexible Interconnects for Next-Generation Wearable Electronics. Ayesha Siddika, Amanda C. Mills, North Carolina State University, USA.

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09:30 - 09:45 am MT     11:30 - 11:45 am EST

Smart Wearables for Muscular Chronic Pain Mitigation. Anastasia Skorobogatiy, Alexander Skorobogatiy, Kathirvel Nallapan, John Abbott College, QC / Polytechnique Montreal, QC.

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09:45 - 10:00 am MT     11:45 - 12:00 pm EST

Evaluating Textile-Based Respiratory Sensors for Non-Invasive Monitoring: A Comparative Study Against Clinical Methods. Sania Aftab, Delaram Sadatamin, Md. Saiful Hoque, Joshua Jerry Chirayath, Salvador Felipe Estrada Ramos, Paulo Antonio Naspud Rojas, Maryam Davoudpou, Azadeh Yadollahi, University of Toronto, ON / University Health Network, ON / Humber Polytechnic, ON.

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Poster Session in Edmonton/Lunch Break in Montréal and Raleigh 

 

10:00 - 11:00 am MT    12:00 - 01:00 pm EST

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Textile manufacturing

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11:00 - 11:30 am MT    01:00 - 01:30 pm EST

Improve recycled yarns by a control loop for rotor spinning. Pierre Lanfer, Research Assistant, Staple Fibre Technologies, Institut für Textiltechnik of RWTH Aachen University, Germany.

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11:30 - 12:00 pm MT    01:30 - 02:00 pm EST

Weaving the future: sustainable fiber innovation does not need to be an oxymoron. Dr. Svetlana V Boriskina, Director, META Research Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.

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Lunch Break in Edmonton / Poster Session in Montréal and Raleigh

 

12:00 - 01:00 pm MT    02:00 - 03:00 pm EST

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E-Textiles

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01:00 - 01:30 pm MT    03:00 - 03:30 pm EST

Textile-based soft robotics. Dr. Xiaomeng Fang, Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University, USA.

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01:30 - 02:00 pm MT    03:30 - 04:00 pm EST

Accelerating Advanced Textile Product Development & Manufacturing Readiness: AFFOA’s Role in Scaling E-Textile Systems. Dr. Guan Wang, Technology Manager, AFFOA, US.

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Student Research Corner

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02:00 - 02:15 pm MT     04:00 - 04:15 pm EST: 

Balancing Delignification and Cellulose Integrity in Hemp-Derived Pulps for Regenerated Textile Fibres. Lelia Lawson, Bernardo A. Souto, Wade Chute, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB / Zylotex, AB / Plantae Technologies, AB.

 

02:15 - 02:30 pm MT     04:15 - 04:30 pm EST

Toward sustainable air filtration: development of electrospun eco-responsible filtration media. Adnan Masri, Loïc Wingert, Ludwig Vinches, Université de Montréal, QC / Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail, QC

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02:30 - 02:45 pm MT     04:30 - 04:45 pm EST

Experimental Evaluation of Combustion-Derived Contaminant Deposition on Flame-Resistant Fabrics Used in Wildland Firefighting. MD. Momtaz Islam, Habeeb H. Al-Mashala, Elijah G. Schnitzler, Adriana Petrova, Robert J. Agnew, Preston Larson, Lynn M. Boorady, Sumit Mandal, Oklahoma State University, USA.

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02:45 - 03:00 pm MT     04:45 - 05:00 pm EST

Manufacturing Flame-Resistant Lyocell Fibre from Flame-Resistant Cotton Waste Fabrics through Optimized Pulping Process. K M Abdun Noor, Lelia Lawson, Bernardo Araujo Souto, Md Abu Sayed, Dagem Z. Haddi, Frehiwot T. Hailu, Abdelhamid S. Himat, Pramod M. Gurave, Khalid Ahmed, Jane Batcheller, David C. Bressler, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB.

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Closing Remarks

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03:00 pm MT    05:00 pm EST

Sogol Asghari, President, Institute of Textile Science.​​

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Lab Tour

 

03:30 - 04:30 pm MT

Tour of the PCERF lab (https://pcerf.ualberta.ca/) for attendees in Edmonton​​​

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Poster Presentations

 

In Raleigh

 

Improving Charge Stability in PLA Meltblown Electret Filters. Negar (Nora) Karimian Ardestani, Raoul Farer, Behnam Pourdeyhimi, North Carolina State University, USA.

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Graphene-based electrospun sensor for low stain sensing applications. Md. Abdullah Al Mamun, Leandro Maio, Anura Fernando, Prasad Potluri, University of Manchester, UK.

 

In Montreal

 

Automated Morphological Characterization of Recycled Cotton Textiles for Loose-Fill Insulation Production via Optical Microscopy and Computer Vision. José Carlos Ferreira Junior, Leyla Lardja, Nicole R. Demarquette, Lucas A. Hof, École de Technologie Supérieure, QC / Vestechpro, QC.

 

Smart Textile for Non-Invasive Core Body Temperature Estimation During Exercise. Md. Saiful Hoque, Mathys Mulot Hauriez, Antonio Bandur, Azadeh Yadollahi, University of Toronto, ON / University Health Network, ON.

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A Systematic Review of Sensing Modalities and Integration Challenges in Textile-Based Sweat Lactate Monitoring. Mathys Mulot- -Hauriez, Saiful Hoque, Azadeh Yadollahi, University of Toronto, ON / University Health Network, ON.

 

Revaluing Waste Wool: Exploring Sustainability Through Felting and Thinking-Through-Making. Wen Shen, Toronto Metropolitan University, ON.

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Electronic Textile Platforms for Cardiorespiratory Monitoring: Integration Strategies, Signal Performance, and Clinical Validation. Delaram Sadatamin, Md. Saiful Hoque, Ivana Culjak I, Sania Aftab, Pedram Karimi, Azadeh Yadollahi, University of Toronto.

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Comfort-Oriented Wearable ECG Garment: Textile Electrode Performance for Heart Rate Accuracy and Waveform Fidelity. Delaram Sadatamin, Atousa Assadi, Ivana Culjak, Sania Aftab, Md. Saiful Hoque, Baptiste Garnier, Pedram Karimi, Saba Sadatamin, Azadeh Yadollahi, University of Toronto.

 

In Edmonton

 

Insights into the Persistence of Florine-Containing Finishes on Fire Protective Fabrics. Rajitha Botheju, Md. Saiful Hoque, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB.

 

From Hemp Bast to Lyocell Fibre: Optimization of Dissolving Pulp Preparation. Md. Abu Sayed, Lelia Lawson, Bernardo A. Souto, K. M. Abdun Noor, Dagem Z. Haddis, Frehiwot T. Hailu, Pramod M. Gurave, Abdelhamid S. Himat, Jane Batcheller, David C. Bressler, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB.

 

Photocatalytic Activity of UV-Assisted CuBi2O4 Nanorods. Asif Jahan Anu, Md Shafayatul Islam, S M Khalid Hossain, Ahmed Sharif, University of Alberta, AB / Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, BD.

 

Exploring the fabrication of graphene-Based reusable electrodes for neurostimulation applications using solvent replacement. Maria Sawiak, Kirankumar Kuruvinashetti, Vivian Mushahwar, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB.

 

Challenges and Opportunities of Fire Protective Clothing Fit, Function, and Safety Among Female Firefighters. Jemma Forgie, Patricia Dolez, University of Alberta, AB.

 

Manufacturing Cellulose Pulp for Lyocell Fibre from Flame Resistant Cotton/Nylon Waste Fabric. Khalid Abdi Ahmed, K M Abdun Noor, Frehiwot T. Hailu, Abdelhamid S. Himat, Pramod M. Gurave, Bernardo Araujo Souto, Md Abu Sayed, Lelia Lawson, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB.

 

Test method of the resistance of joule heating textiles to fatigue bending. Hamdi Ben Khelifa, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB.

 

Smart Garment Prototype for Muscle Expansion Monitoring During Resistance Training. Melwin Chacko Moncy, Elena Kosareva, Mahdi Tavakoli, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB.

 

Mapping the electrospinning parameter space for bead-free PAN/N-halamine composite nanofibres. Pramod M. Gurave, Nafiseh Hedayati, Patricia I Dolez, University of Alberta, AB.

 

Exploring Daily Life Challenges in Individuals with Musculoskeletal Weakness: Informing Adaptive Clothing Design. Elena Kosareva, Isabel Prochner, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB / Virginia Polytechnique and State University, VA.

 

Extraction of Bio-based Glycerol from Catfish for Salt-free Reactive Dyeing of Cotton and Dyed Fabric Performance Evaluation. A K M Nayab Ul Hossain, Amit Kumar Ghosh, Salma Katun Sela, Md Sabbir Hossain, Mohammad Mashud, Ashikur Rahman Antor, Shekh Md. Mamun Kabir, Md Rashedul Islam, Patricia I. Dolez, University of Alberta, AB / Khulna University of Engineering & Technology, BD / Jashore University of Science and Technology, BD / Bangladesh University of Textiles, BD.

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