Getting to Know AATCC

The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) will be 100 years old in 2021, and I am honored to serve as its president as we approach the century mark.

The association has continued to evolve over the years to meet the needs of those in the ever-changing textile, apparel and materials industries – including students, researchers, product and fabric designers, colorists, dye and chemicals suppliers, manufacturers, quality control as well as merchandisers and retailers.

One of our biggest opportunities is educating the textile supply chain about all that AATCC has to offer its members. If you are not already a member, we hope our story will inspire you to join. If you are a member, thanks for your support. And perhaps you will learn even more about the association here! 

Our Roots in Textile Wet Processing

We typically describe ourselves as having roots in textile wet processing, since a lot of what we do is focused on development of standardized test methods, and associated education and training, to support the evaluation of products within the textiles sphere. Typical test methods are focused more on coloration and finishing, and other aspects of wet processing.

For example, color fastness properties are among the key test methods we are focused on, including the effects of laundering, exposure to light, crock (rub fastness), perspiration, stain resistance and the efficacy of fabric finishes.

Over the years we have developed test methods that are related to performance features such as properties for weathering, outdoor use, moisture transport or moisture resistance. We also engage with other associations and industry groups to ensure the test methods we develop meet the needs of supply chain participants globally. 

Staying Ahead of the Curve

Since we obviously don’t live in a static environment, our test method committees invest in periodic review of existing methods to ensure they meet industry needs and are in keeping with technology, processes and product safety requirements as they change over time. We also develop new test methods based on the needs of the industry and in response to performance requirements that benefit consumers.

One area that has changed a great deal over the last 10 or 15 years is home laundering, with new kinds of washing machines and new kinds of laundry detergents entering the marketplace. Our test methods have been adapted in response, and this is an example of where we are working to keep our test methods current with the changing landscape: How do we develop products and what do we need to do to alter our products to be more in keeping with what consumers are expecting?

Getting the Work Done: Committees and Interest Groups

In order to make our work as effective and efficient as possible, we have structured both committees and interest groups made up mostly of member volunteers, and we thank them for their service!

Some of our committees are devoted to the development and validation of test methods, and others are more administrative in nature, such as a committee focused on development and delivery of education and training of benefit to the textiles and fibers industries.

Within the Education Advisory committee, we focus on identifying topics of interest as well as where we should invest in terms of symposia or online training.Given my background in digital textile printing, I have been very active in the  Printing Technologies committee where our mission is not necessarily to develop specific test methods or monitor them, but rather, to help companies understand and have a forum where they can discuss how technology is developing within the printed textiles space.

A member can participate in various committees and can be a voting member of up to three test method committees but can participate in as many as they want.

There are also three special interest groups:

• Chemical applications, for members that are interested in how chemistry is changing or what research is happening within wet processing that will have an impact on how we manufacture product or new information related to performance features such as stain resistance or anti-microbial properties.
• Concept to Consumer, or C2C: As manufacturing moves to other parts of the world, we recognize it is important to engage to a greater degree with people who are involved in the design and specification of products. Those who drive manufacturing have less opportunity to gain hands-on knowledge of the processes, and the C2C group is intended to provide greater connection between product developers and technical and manufacturing experts within the textile supply chain.
• Materials: These are folks that are working in areas that have to do with the development of new fibers, new fiber technology and manufacturing techniques. In this group, we have also had some activity in the area of integration of electronics into textile products; there is a lot of interest in the technologies themselves and how they are being incorporated into textiles and the manufacturing process, plus implications for test methods including laundering—how do you clean it and test the performance of that product within the cleaning process?

Sustainability is Key

Underlying all of this is the issue of sustainability – the development of improved chemistry and processes that will help improve our footprint in wet processing.

Our sustainability committee is currently pursuing the issue of fiber shedding as part of laundering, and investigating test methods that will aid in the evaluation of this property. Our membership has a high level of interest in sustainability, and test method development helps us to better understand the problems and work toward technology solutions, so we as an industry get better. Through our education programs, we help companies understand best-in-class technology and process so that our industry can become better stewards of the environment. 

Member Benefits

In addition to participation in committees and special interest groups, the annual membership also comes with a subscription to the AATCC magazine, the online peer-reviewed journal, the bimonthly e-newsletter, access to the EBSCO Textile Complete database and AATCC article archive, and discounted rates for other publications as well as discounts to conferences and other educational programs. Additionally, they can access some books and monographs that AATCC has made available as free downloads to members.

Members also can schedule time to use the AATCC laboratories, and we have conference rooms and a Member’s Office at our Technical Center that are available for members to use if they need them. One of the newest benefits to members is access to more than 100 years of American Dyestuff Reporter. It is amazing the amount of information available in those issues. Those are the tangible benefits. The most valuable benefit is the access to such a large and knowledgeable cross section of experienced industry professionals when we gather for committee meetings or our annual technical conference.

We currently have more than 25 active student chapters. This represents more than 400 students, with more universities expressing interest. AATCC conducts several student competitions — including two design competitions, a merchandising competition and a student paper and presentation competition — and with the AATCC Foundation having just awarded more than 15 scholarships and graduate fellowships, we want to continue to engage more and more students. 

Our leadership worked to set up our charitable foundation more than 20 years ago. It was done in some ways with a low-key effort to grow. With the generous nature of some of our past presidents and officers, as well as a few other charitable foundations, we now have a great base on which to grow our scholarships. We have several fully endowed scholarships, and we are currently working on a campaign to increase the number of endowed scholarships. The scholarships and fellowships for the 2018-19 school year was the largest level of scholarships we have ever granted.

100 for 100

We also want to expand those scholarships even further and are launching our 100 for 100 campaign in honor of our 100-year anniversary – campaigning to fully endow $100,000 per year in scholarships in time to celebrate AATCC’s 100th birthday in 2021. Endowing these scholarships ensures support for textile students far into the future! Just $100 from every individual member and $1,000 from every corporate member would meet or even exceed the goal!

Within the foundation, we have funds that go to support a wide variety of scholarships. Some are directed at specific colleges and universities; and others are devoted to specific fields of study. The application process is specific to the scholarship the student is interested in.

Looking Ahead

The separation between manufacturing of products and the design and specification of those products has informed what we have done over the last five years in terms of education and training. As we look ahead at such issues as localized production and microfactories, some of the things we are considering are the gaps in expertise we may have. This is an area where digital textile printing has a significant role to play. We are open to collaborating with other industry groups to support the education of our members. For example, we formed a partnership with SGIA four years ago and have now conducted four Digital Textile Printing Conferences together, with the last one attracting almost 140 attendees. We are looking at other educational opportunities for our respective members as well. This effort also goes hand-in-hand with sustainability. 

Although the topic of domestic manufacturing is important to many of our members, we see ourselves as an association that focuses on understanding where the need arises for education and training, and supporting our members in the exchange of technical knowledge wherever their manufacturing happens. Toward that end, we continue to find ways to help our members network and connect with each other through in-person events and digital communities. We want to foster an exchange of information that allows members to learn from each other as well as to take advantage of our education and training programs. 

We also recognize that there are a lot of students and young professionals who don’t necessarily have a landing place as they graduate and go out into the work world. For me as a young professional, it was helpful to connect with the association; and I learned so much from being around some of the more senior members, having them share stories and tell me more about the work they do, and being part of a community. We are striving to engage more with younger members, both to learn from them and to understand what they are looking for as professionals and connecting them with other resources in the industry. That also helps ensure that knowledge is transferred as older members retire and move on to other things, as well as ensuring we are able to attract new talent to the industry’s workforce.

Our work around sustainability will also continue to grow. Our California section recently hosted a conference around this theme; and as an association, given our expertise around coloration and wet processing, we are striving to find other opportunities to play a key role in helping to inform the industry and support research and development in areas that will improve our footprint.

We also need to do a better job of connecting with resources around the globe who are users of our test methods, improving connection points with our international members. As the industry changes shape and the story of where products are manufactured continues to evolve, global manufacturing is not going away. But it will blend with microfactories and localized manufacturing. We see our job as identifying the topics that need to be addressed and finding ways to support this evolution.

So with a lot of challenges ahead, we are excited to bring our membership along with us as we continue to address these challenges in new and different ways.