At the end of September, our delegation participated in the 18th Chemnitz Textile Technology Conference, an important event focusing on innovations in the textile industry, co-organized by our project partner, the Institute for Lightweight Structures at Chemnitz University of Technology (TUC). This two-day conference attracted experts from across Germany’s textile technology sector, who gathered to discuss current challenges and innovations in the field.
The conference featured a rich program on key topics, including textile technologies for lightweight construction, circular economy, digitalization, and production automation. Among the exhibited and presented projects were innovative solutions in hybrid materials, textile recycling, and new composite technologies. The gathering provided an excellent opportunity for sharing knowledge among researchers, industry partners, and the academic community.
Our project partners from TUC also participated, including Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Daisy
Nestler (head of the Textile Plastic Composites and Hybrid Compounds foundation-
supported research group within the Institute for Lightweight Structures), and research assistant Kristina Jahn (young research group ecoWing, Professorship Textile
Technologies). Our delegation had the opportunity to meet and take a group photo with other representatives from TUC’s Institute for Lightweight Structures, including Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lothar Kroll (Head of the Professorship Structural Lightweight Design and Polymer Processing), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Nendel (Head of the Professorship Lightweight Structures and Polymer Technology) and Prof. Holger Cebulla (Head of the Professorship Textile Technologies). These experts contribute significantly to advancing material innovations in the textile industry. Dr. Thomas Heber, the Executive Director of CU Ost, a regional section of the Composites United e.V. cluster that supports companies and research institutions specializing in composite materials in eastern Germany, was also present.
We were given the opportunity to exhibit works inspired by electron microscopy, a focus of the first stage of the InterBridge project, at this national textile conference. Our exhibition included T-shirts with prints based on SEM (scanning electron microscope) images. These designs were created by students of the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Liberec, including Markéta Princová, Ema Jonáková, Valentina Bestová, and Ondřej Müller, who presented their own works and those of their classmates. The T-shirts were accompanied by striking artistic photographs in which the students showcased their work. The School of Applied Arts in Liberec focuses on graphic design and applied photography and media, and the students’ artistic and technical talents were fully displayed not only in the graphic processing of SEM images for T-shirt prints but also in the aesthetic presentation of their work, highlighting the visual and conceptual aspects of our exhibition.
Our exhibition also included three large-format black-and-white posters created by our art methodologists Honza and Lukáš from the Faculty of Architecture at TUL. These posters captured details of microscopic structures, such as fibers, polymers, and composites, provided by our partners from TUC. A particular highlight was one of the posters, where Lukáš used artificial intelligence to replicate SEM structures. Through his programming expertise, he created images so realistic that it was nearly impossible to distinguish them from actual SEM images. Visitors were challenged to guess which images were real and which were AI-generated – a challenge that few could solve. This experiment garnered admiration and demonstrated how the creative combination of art and technology can push the boundaries of visual perception of the nanoscale world.
In addition to the exhibition, we distributed project cards featuring various SEM images, such as daisy pollen, a wasp’s head, a spider’s leg, and human hair. The reverse side displayed our contact information and the logos of the Interreg Czech-Germany and InterBridge projects. These cards generated great interest, as attendees took them as attractive and unusual souvenirs.
Our delegation also attended a social evening with dinner, where project discussions and exchanges of experience continued. Although German was mainly spoken at the conference and the evening event, communication in English went smoothly, allowing our students and colleagues from TUL to comfortably engage in conversations with other participants. Our delegation in Chemnitz was accommodated at the Sächsischer Hof hotel, about 400 meters from the Chemnitzer Hof hotel, where the conference was held. This proximity allowed for full participation in all conference activities and the evening gathering.
We thank our partners at TUC for the opportunity to exhibit and participate in this conference. The InterBridge project continues to open up space for linking scientific knowledge with artistic creativity, leading to new perspectives and inspiration on both sides of the border.
Hana Křížová
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