Mr Tim Wilson: Director of Climate Change Policy and the Intellectual Property and Free Trade Unit at the Institute of Public Affairs; International public policy analyst and commentator
Shifting to a less carbon-intensive economy and the likely effects on manufacturing
Predicted to affect every transaction in the economy, the government’s price on carbon will have a profound and transformative impact on business, particularly manufacturing as higher energy costs flow through the economy. Tim will outline the impact that carbon liabilities will have on already finely balanced business models. Tim regularly appears on Australian and international television and radio including previously co-hosting ABC News 24 TV's Snapshot segment, appearing fortnightly on ABC News 24's News Breakfast and the Drum, Sky News TV's Lunchtime Agenda and the Contrarians, a 'Wrapper' on Jon Faine's ABC Melbourne radio program, as well as many others.

Mr Thomas Seeger, Research & Development Manager, Bruck Textiles Pty Ltd
The new industrial landscape for fibres and textiles

Mr Michael Gerakios, Business Technology Development Director - Metis Technologies
Customer drivers - finding the value of technology
Filtration media in pollution control applications such as coal-fired power stations are expected to perform under extreme pressure and temperatures.  Historically the development and subsequent performance of technical textile fabrics for fabric filter bags has been limited because of the restricted capability of suitable polymers. Michael will talk on the development of new fibre/polymer solutions that create efficiencies in capturing the particulates in pollution control applications including power stations that may result in cleaner production and greater environmental outcomes.

Mr Tak Him Chan, Manager of Far East, Testex Swiss Textile Testing Ltd. Presentation authored by Dr Jean Pierre Haug
Product safety in increasingly complex legislations
The Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 is a glabally uniform testing and certification system for Textile raw materials, intermediate and finished products. The certification of raw, semi-finished and finished products according to the Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 ensures products are safe because they are free from harmful substances. Reach is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to improve the protection of human health & the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals, while enhancing the competitiveness of the chemicals industry.  It promotes alternative methods for the harzad assessment of substances in order to reduce the number of tests on animals. Mr Chan will outline the way companies are leveraging the value of testing & certification to create value as a foil against being held to account over issues of sustainability and liability.

Mr John Saad,: Managing Director, CHT Australia Pty Ltd
Innovative formulations to transform performance
The majority of fibre and textile manufacturing use conventional fibres and yarns, yet it is what we do with them that creates the value proposition that we present to our customers and establishes our niche in a given market. The physical properties of conventional fibres and yarns can be manipulated and enhanced in a myriad of ways through the use of specialist chemical applications. John will outline how broader perspectives lead to innovative formulations that can transform the properties and constructional parameters of fibres and textiles to achieve product improvements and novel, functional and aesthetic properties.

Mr Stuart  Wallace, TCF National Facilitator, Enterprise Connect
Collaboration models for future industry
Under the new industrial landscape, developing new uses and products for textiles, does not simply evolve through product development in isolation. It is usually the result of innovative and transparent partnerships across supply chains that have been formed to tackle societal and technological challenges. Business and new product development are now simply being done differently, driven by the concept of shared value creation and liability mitigation. Stuart will present the collaboration models for technology push style activity and those that are currently available for formal engagement with new knowledge in the University and private sector, communication systems, media platforms emerging to support collaboration outcomes and what these collaboration models will offer to improve the way we do research, business and commerce in the future.

Mr Samuel Leighs, Textile Chemistry Research Associate, AgResearch (New Zealand)
Wool Filtration Media : Applications and Opportunities
Samuel Leighs is a textile chemistry research associate in AgResearch's Textile Science and Technology team, with a B.Sc major in chemistry from the University of Canterbury. He has been extensively involved in the development of innovative new wool-based filtration and coloration technologies. AgResearch is one of New Zealand's eight Crown Research Institutes. As part of the Textiles team Sam undertakes research to enhance the intrinsic properties of wool, for traditional and new applications, and to develop new high value products for wool. His work contributes to AgResearch's core purpose of improving returns to New Zealand's pastoral agriculture sector.

Dr Tara Sutherland, Research Scientist, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences
Insect silks - new protein biopolymers for the textile and fibre industry
Dr Sutherland is a research scientist at CSIRO whose group has been the first to generate artificial silk materials using full length protein polymers. Her group has been able to produce these polymers at pilot scale and process them into a variety of material forms including fibres, sponges, particles and films.  Unlike natural fibres, artificially produced protein polymers offer the advantage that they can be engineered as required for a large variety of end-use applications. The paper will describe the discovery, development and application of artificial silk fibres.  Dr Sutherland has published numerous papers in international journals describing her research in the area.