New Shima knitting machine arrives….via tower crane!
Our new Shima Seiki SRY inlay knitting machine set sail from Japan in December and was delivered to the doors of the lab by a tower crane, courtesy of Fletcher Construction. Recognising the difficulty of navigating the tight access way to the lab, Fletcher Construction staff from the adjacent site of the new Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences building, arived on the scene to lift the machine over the building and ‘drop’ it at the rear entrance to the lab. The machine has since been commissioned and the lab’s Senior Technician, Gordon Fraser, has been devoting much of his time to understanding the SRY’s numerous capabilities. A key feature of the machine is its ability to produce hybrid knitted/woven materials by inlaying a wide range of yarn counts irrespective of the machine’s gauge. Watch video.
Taking to the skies – the new Shima inlay
machine making its grand entrance
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Lab familiarisation sessions planned for March
The Textile and Design Lab will be hosting a series of familiarisation sessions for new students during March. These short sessions of around 30 minutes duration will enable students from all disciplines to acquire an overview of the lab’s capabilities and see brief demonstrations of machine knitting, digital textile printing and machine felting. Students are asked to email tdl@aut.ac.nz for dates and times. A separate familiarisation session will be held for staff new to AUT on Thursday 23 February at 2.00 pm.
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Secondary schools benefitting from lab’s resources
The Textile and Design Lab’s short course and workshop programme has struck a chord with many secondary school technology teachers from all over New Zealand, who wish to keep abreast of innovations in textile design, knitting, printing, felting and e-textiles. Their awareness of the lab’s technologies and student support capabilities has resulted in numerious secondary school student visits to the lab in recent years. As well as seeing demonstrations of the lab’s design systems and machinery, the students also have the opportunity to take a tour of the Textile Design studios and hear about the programmes of study that AUT offers in this area. Anyone wishing to learn more about our secondary school engagement activities, please email tdl@aut.ac.nz
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2017 Callaghan C Prize for Wearable Technologies
Government business support agency, Callaghan Innovation, has announced that its 2017 C Prize will focus on Wearable Technology. Full details of this year’s C Prize will be announced in April. Click here to register your interest.
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2017 Short course and workshop proramme
The Textile and Design Lab’s short course and workshop programme dates for 2017 have been finalised. The programme consists of mostly 2-day short courses and hands-on workshops around the subjects of design for digital textile printing, knitwear design using the Shima Seiki Apex Design System, textile knowledge, machine felting and e-Textiles and soft circuit design. The programme starts in April and the courses and workshops are run again later in the year. Read more about the lab’s 2017 short course and workshop programme and how to register online.
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