No Ordinary Cloth: Intersection of textiles, emerging tech, craft and sustainability Mili Tharakan

🎉  In this episode as we celebrate Women's Day in March 2024, we have a very special guest - Prof. Sohini Kar-Narayan, a leading material scientist and nanotechnology expert from the University of Cambridge, sharing with us about her passion for science and her work with nano materials for energy harvesting and self-powered sensing technology, and it's potential for smart textiles and wearables.

🧪 This is also the story about a young girl who wanted to invent something and went on to become, among many things, one of the Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering in 2021. She was the recipient of the World Economic Forum Young Scientist Award in 2015, the Peter Day Award in 2023 and many other prestigious awards over the years. You can find out more about this on her Wiki page.

👩🏽‍🔬  Here, Sohini shares some of the challenges she faced as a woman navigating a career in academia in Science. From her position of leadership today, she is keen to encourage more people to explore science and gives valuable insights for others, especially women, who might be considering a career in these areas.

📍 Sohini not only invented many thing but is using one of her invention to transform the effectiveness of hip surgeries with the force-sensing technology in her startup ArtioSense so learn more about this here as well. She also candidly shares about navigating the world of start ups, the new skills she has had to pick up compared to her life as an academic researcher. I have been there and I know this is a difficult transition so if you are in a similar place, do join us to learn more from Sohini.

If you are interested to learn more about Sohini's research and startup, please check out the links below:

University of Cambridge - Research [https://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/people/kar-narayan]

Research Lab [https://www.kar-narayan.msm.cam.ac.uk/]

Artiosense [https://artiosense.co.uk/] - force sensing technology startup

Connect with Mili Tharakan

⭐️ Podcast survey link [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5dvn2fDBUa8keNkdxKY-5Kac_3JKSOzkdHG0NjtDGKcow0A/viewform?usp=sf_link]

mili@militharakan.com

Insta: @noordinarycloth [https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/]

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjtharakan/

Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash

Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

Welcome to this special mini episode of the No Ordinary Cloth podcast, where we explore the fascinating world of textiles and fashion and the innovative minds shaping its future. Today, we're spotlighting the Manufacturing Futures 2024 - Innovation Challenge, a pivotal event for UK-based startups and SMEs in the fashion industry. 

There is some exciting news to share, do listen in to the end of the episode.

Here's what we cover in this episode:

Details about the Manufacturing Futures Innovation Challenge 2024 competition and what the winner can expect as prize money and support

You will also get some insights from the judges themselves - what is important to them, what they are looking for in the applications, tips. This will give you hopefully help prepare your application.

Jen Keane from Modern Synthesis, winners of a previous Manufacturing Futures competition, will be sharing about her startup that makes biomaterials and about their collaborating with GANNI to develop the Bou bag using nano cellulose materials made by bacteria.

This episode not only highlights the Manufacturing Futures Innovation Challenge but also serves as a reminder of the power of innovation and the importance of community in shaping the future of fashion. Whether you're directly involved in the fashion industry or simply passionate about innovation and sustainability, this challenge represents a fantastic opportunity to contribute to meaningful change.

Manufacturing Futures 2024 [https://www.fashion-district.co.uk/competition/manufacturing-futures-2024/#:~:text=The%20Fashion%20District%20is%20delighted,supporting%20new%20innovations%20and%20SMEs.]  - find out all the details about the challenge here

Fashion District [https://www.fashion-district.co.uk/]

Instagram: @fd_ldn  [https://www.instagram.com/fd_ldn/]

Twitter/X: @fd_ldn  [https://twitter.com/fd_ldn?lang=en]

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/company/fdldn

Modern Synthesis [https://www.modernsynthesis.com/]

Link to survey [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5dvn2fDBUa8keNkdxKY-5Kac_3JKSOzkdHG0NjtDGKcow0A/viewform?usp=sf_link]  - would deeply appreciate your feedback, it will only take a couple of minutes

Connect with Mili Tharakan

mili@militharakan.com

Instagram: @noordinarycloth [https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjtharakan/

Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash

Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

On this episode of the 'No Ordinary Cloth' podcast, we welcome Gilberto Loureiro, the co-founder and CEO of Smartex, an innovative startup leveraging AI and machine learning to transform the textile industry and modernise it's factories.

Gilberto draws upon his life experiences, growing up in a family where everyone worked in the textile business and witnessing the substantial wastage and outdated practices in factories. This became his motivation to set up Smartex - a company building an eco-system of solutions to bring textile factories into the 21st century, eliminate waste, and enhance traceability and sustainability. They are truly revolutionising and shaping the future of textile factories.

He talks about the challenges faced by startups and shares lots of valuable resources and advice for others who might be building a startup. He highlights the importance of mentors, being humble and enjoying the work that you do to be successful.

Furthermore, Gilberto elaborates on the sector's future, identifying technology, shorter orders, increased automation, and reduced human dependence as primary factors leading the charge. Our discussion unpacks the enormous potential AI and machine learning hold for not just improving efficiencies but also for combating the significant sustainability issues within the textile industry.

Smartex [https://www.smartex.ai/]

Modern Textile Factory report [https://www.smartex.ai/the-modern-textile-factory-report-2023]

Connect with Mili Tharakan

mili@militharakan.com

Insta: @noordinarycloth [https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/]

Podcast survey link [https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/]

Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash

Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

In this episode of The No Ordinary Cloth Podcast, we hear from Mika Satomi - an exceptional artist and maker whose artistic approach transcends mediums. She skilfully blends traditional and modern, digital and manual techniques and materials to convey powerful narratives. She is as proficient in weaving and crocheting as she is in programming and electronics and so many other techniques. Here she shares about her approach to learning new skills and deepening her existing ones.

She is known as a pioneer in the E-textiles community and most people would know her through Kobakant - How to get what you want - a resource for e-textile materials and techniques, that she and Hannah Perner-Wilson built. But Today, Mika joins us to discuss her latest project, Indigo Hyphae, a reflection on the topic of human migration. She explores traditional Japanese katazome techniques along with indigo dyeing techniques, going totally analogue this time, marking a shift from her usual e-textiles work.

Mika shares about her experience of teaching at art universities, her collaboration with Hannah Perner-Wilson, and their project Kobakant. She also touches on the role and responsibility we have as makers and the impact it has on the world. This discussion will leave you contemplative of your own practise and skills.

Join us as we explore the journey of this pioneering, deeply creative and thought provoking artist. 

Podcast feedback survey [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5dvn2fDBUa8keNkdxKY-5Kac_3JKSOzkdHG0NjtDGKcow0A/viewform?usp=sf_link]

Mika Satomi's works

Mika Satomi website [https://www.nerding.at/]

Indigo Hyphea project [https://www.nerding.at/indigo_hyphae/]

Indigo Hyphae map [https://www.nerding.at/indigo_hyphae/map/]

Zeug Farberai - Indigo dyeing studio [https://www.zeugfaerberei.at/]

Kobakant - How to get what you want [https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/]

Connect with Mili Tharakan

mili@militharakan.com

Insta: @noordinarycloth [https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/]



Time stamp of episode:

* 00:19 Getting to Know Mika Satomi
* 05:17 Introduction to the Indigo Hyphae Project
* 07:31 The Concept and Inspiration Behind Indigo Hyphae
* 10:05 The Process and Techniques of Indigo Hyphae
* 20:26 Reflections on Craftsmanship and Skill Acquisition
* 34:43 Exploring E-Textiles
* 36:05 The Impact of Collaboration and Kobakant
* 43:40 The Responsibility of Designers
* 48:17 The Impact of Teaching on Personal Growth
* 01:02:14 Reflections on the Interview

Whether you are a textile designer, biologist, engineer, architect, fashion designer, material scientist or a curious maker - we all need to come together to innovate and solve challenges the world is facing today.

On this episode our guest speaker Anastasia Pistofidou has done just that - she has created an ecosystem that brings together diverse expertise to explore textiles and solve some of these challenges.

Trained as an architect, Anastasia meanders into the world of textiles through soft architecture, where she began to take knowledge and tools from her architectural background and apply them to the textile field to create new materials and ideas. She is a passionate educator and maker at heart. Anastasia's story is about the merging of creativity, sustainability, and technological advancement inspiring a new wave of textile education and industry practices.

With a mission to make science more accessible to everyone, she co-founded the open-source educational program, Fabricademy, where students from diverse walks of life (and aged anywhere between 16-65) come together to learn and innovate at the intersection of textiles, biology and digital fabrication. All are welcome to this program that fosters community engagement, promote peer-to-peer learning and collaborations worldwide. What you learn here is beyond conventional fashion education, it breeds new knowledge, equipping learners to challenge the fast-fashion industry's status quo.

Listen in as Anastasia highlights the 3 key skills she hopes her students would take away to drive an innovative and sustainable career, and sheds light on the future of education and what she would do if she had a magic wand.

Anastasia also discusses her views on AI, it's role in creating and collaborating, as well as her current projects and provides a range of resources on emerging textiles for further learning and inspiration. Find the links below to some of these fabulous resources.

If you would like to get your hands messy and explore emerging textile fields such as e-textiles, bio-fabrication of materials, soft robotics, digital fabrication, wearables, skin electronics, check out  Fabricademy program and start exploring today.

Fabricademy [https://textile-academy.org/] website

Program [https://textile-academy.org/program/] - course info

Insta - @fabricademy [https://www.instagram.com/fabricademy/]

Resources:

Entangled Life [https://www.merlinsheldrake.com/entangled-life] book

Why Materials Matter book [https://ma-tt-er.org/work/why-materials-matter/]

Biofabrication: From Fungi to Fashion podcast

Next Generation Material podcast

Abstract: The Art of Design Netflix series

Life in Colour Netflix series

Ellen McArthur Foundation [https://www.youtube.com/@EllenMacArthurFoundation] - Circular Economy

Connect with Mili Tharakan:

mili@militharakan.com

Insta: @noordinarycloth [https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/]

Whether you love or hate mathematics, you are going to enjoy listening to this episode.

In this interview, Sophie Skach, a fashion designer and researcher, discusses her passion for interweaving the world of textiles with mathematics and technology, and her unique approach to creating catwalk collections and PhD research projects. She shares her journey on how she uses textiles as a medium to demystify mathematics and communicate complex mathematical concepts through her textile and fashion pieces.

Dive into Sophie's world to learn about mathematical fashion and uncover the complex yet whimsical projects she shares with us. Get behind the scene insights about projects such as "No Input Textiles" (where textiles are used as musical interfaces), "Talking Jumpers" and "Whistling Jacket".

Sophie explains the human-centric computing approach she adopted during her PhD, through the creation of sensor-equipped garments, and the relationship between fashion and social computing.

She challenges us, the listener, to embrace curiosity in a cross-disciplinary approach to design and learning. Listen in and find out how her curiosity about a mathematician, who shared the same birthday as her, influenced and shaped her career.

Resources:

Designing with Smart Textiles [https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/designing-with-smart-textiles-9781472569158/]

Smart Textiles for Designers [https://www.waterstones.com/book/smart-textiles-for-designers/rebecca-pailes-friedman/9781780677323]

Kobakant [https://www.kobakant.at/DIY/]

Sixty Symbols: videos [https://www.youtube.com/@sixtysymbols]

Connect with Mili Tharakan:

mili@militharakan.com

https://instagram.com/noordinarycloth/

Connect with Sophie Skach:

Website: www.sophieskach.com [http://www.sophieskach.com/]

Youtube videos [https://www.youtube.com/@sophieskach/videos] of No Input Textiles and other works

Instagram: @SophieSkach [https://www.instagram.com/sophieskach/]

Twitter: @SophieSkach

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wPQ5wvwAAAAJ