Keynote speakers

	Professor Shouhei Koyama Division of Smart Textiles, Institute of Fiber Engineering (IFES) Interdisciplinary Cluster for Cutting Research Shinshu University, Japan “Fiber Sensors as the Cutting Edge Materials for Smart Textiles” Peoples’ concern for their health care has caused a strong need for a sensor system that could monitor our vital signs non-invasively, rapidly, and continuously. This lecture describes a new sensing system for human vital signs by using the technology of the fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing method. Read more...

	Mr. Robert Bélanger President and Owner – Belt-Tech Products Quebec, Canada "Innovation at the Heart of Belt-Tech’s Business Success" Belt-Tech Products Inc. is a company whose business is in manufacturing material for security application. Since 2010, the company displays an exceptional growth of more than 300 percent! This growth allows the company to supply about 30% of the total demand in seat belts in the automobile sector in North America. Indicatively, this annual volume in metres represents two and a half times the earth’s circumference. In addition, Belt-Tech Products Inc. is a leading provider in the aviation sector. Sales of seat belts in the aeronautics sector represent almost 50% of global demand. Read more...

	Mr. Steve Stevens Manager – Student-Entrepreneurship Centre Ugent – DO! (Durf Ondernemen!) Ghent University, Belgium “Entrepreneurship at University as a catalyst for innovation.” Read more...

	Dr. Daniel L. Cadet Cadet Railway Consulting Former Director for External Technical Affairs R&D and Innovation ALSTOM Transport, France "Intelligent Textiles and Composites in Railway" Railway is recognized as the mean of transport with a minimum impact on the environment and less fatal accidents than other modes and able to answer to the increasing demand for the transport of persons and goods. Large investments are made throughout the world to offer rail services for long distance, regional, urban and suburban. Read more...

	Mr Jaafar Merzouki Idrissi Business unit manager ATREFIL Casablanca, Morocco "The challenges of the textile sector in Morocco and the opportunities for the development of TTUs" The textile and clothing sector employs nearly 160,000 people in Morocco. It is the country's largest industrial employer with 27% of national industrial employment. The sector also contributes 24% of Moroccan exports of goods and 7% of industrial VA, 5% of industrial production and 5% of industrial turnover. Read more...

	Dr. Olivier Vermeersch Vice-President R&D CTT Group – Québec, Canada Chairholder, NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges in 3D Textiles & Smart Textiles : NEXTEX Chair "Smart Textiles : From lab prototyping to production and commercialisation" CTT Group has created in 2007 a multidisciplinary research group dedicated to Smart Textiles. This research group is composed of both engineers in textile and in electronics as well as R&D technologists. Over 50 projects have already been accomplished and more are on-going. The research themes are centered on the development of functional textile such as heating textile, lighting textile and many types of textiles sensors. All of these projects have been led in partnership with local textile companies who have been able to benefit from the outcomes of these developments and, in some cases, introduce new products on the market. Read more...