ＵＣＭＴＦ ２７ ＡｗａｒＤ ｔＯ ＴＯＰ Ｓｔｕｄｖ ｆｒｏｍ ｉｔｅｃｈ Ｕｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔ ｃｈａｉｉｅｎｇｅ

UCMTF，the French textile machinery manufacturersassoclatlon．is a inaior sponsor of fhe ITECH Challengeorganized each year by this leading unlverslty Made for DBAApparel，an interdiSClpllnary smdy on the solicitations exertedon a bra．was awarded the 27 pnze.

UCMTF has a 1ng tradition f partnerships Wlth the bestengmeermg universities in France，particularly With thelf teXtlle，mechanics and electronics departments“We fncus on the bestuniversities t attract voung talents t our industry”says MarcBrabant the chairman of UCMTF committee on education.

Each vear UCMTF sponsors the ITECH Challengethrolgh a contributlon of EurOS l5，(more than USD2.)because“the ITECH ChaIJenge proposes innovativesubjects-orlglnatmg from the industry-to mullidisclpinaryteams of students from dlfferent unlversltles and backgrounds'’adds Marc Brabant who explalns，“this is one Of our majorcoll aborative projects Wlth fhe umverslties the Other onesbeing a forum we organize every two years t promote oarindustry to the textile students and the workshops we organizefor the faCHltv in the areas Of textile and mechanics t keep boththese professors and ourselves at the forefront oflhe state oftheart.”

The lTECH Challenge

The mission that the Challenge has chosen is t develop aspINt f pioneerlng and creatlVlty among students by offefingthem real industrial projects The projects originate from theindustry The organizers are suppOrtcd by a scientific committeeand racilitated bv technical and scientific experts，unlversltyprofessors and researcfiers They have strong connections Wlththe industrv tO f8cilitate the emergence Of the projects，andWlth a network Of universities t make up the interdisciphnaryteanls Dunng the duratlon Of the project，the organlzers followthe progress made and give advices when needed Then me jurymakes ItS selection and the best projects get awards．For theindustry，it is a very effective way tO favour technical transfersthanks to multidisciplinary skills，access t the laboratofies of[he universities etc A verv lmportant aspect is that the results Offhe research remain the property f the companies which haveparticlpated and letters f conddenti~ity give them the neededlegal protectlon.

DBA AppareI

“DBA Apparel was looking for development outsourcmgthroughstrategic partnerships'’states Anne-chnstlne Ayed，theResearch and Innovatlon Dlrector．

DBA Apparel is an Internatlonal group created in February26 from the acquisition f Sara Lee Branded Apparel Europeby San Capttal partners Its brands include sueh famous namesas DIM，Chesterfield，P1aytex，Wonderbra aud many moreThey emplOy 1， people in 14 countries

As a customer and consumer focused company innovationis a maln factor”More and more it 1s organized throughpartnerships Wlth customers，suppllers，extenaal research labs，universities and demgn firms'’says Anne Christlne Ayed“thenwe were really Interested working wlth ITECH Challenge，andweare vefy happywlththe resultswe got”

The project t study the solIcltatlons exerted on a bra

This project was t understand the suppon of bras and tomeasure fhelr levels f deformation

It should make thelr design easier while favoUrllflg supportand tomfon.

To answer these requirements ITECH Challenge made up ateam of three students one from ITECH AUFClic Guyot and twofrom INSA，Laetlta Paoli and Baptiste D。Palle The 1dea f thlsteam was to show that the bra can be transforilled into an effortsensor by measurlng the deformatlon with the stereo-correIatlonmethod Thls method 1s based on a system of two cameraswhich slmultaneously film the object and thgirlks to a sonwilrewhich can visualize lt In 3D.

Free of contact．1t make s DOSSlble the V1 SUaliZatlon Ofderormatlons on the bra surface Ftom these resulfs and rr111the fabrlcs constitutive laws the team was able t determlnethe strength exerted on the bra Constltutlve laWS have beendetermlned by the correlatlon of plctures takC rl duFing atens~le test The charactenzatlon f rabrlcs ls verv important tOunderstand thelr mechanital behavlor.

At the same time，the team deslgned a bi一fallhfJl bUSt fwoman compnsmg a breast with biomechamcal characterlstlcsThis dummy has been deslgned 1n order to have an lnvarlantmotpho1ogy t cornpare the deformation s and the strengthexeaed on the bras quantitatively ln static and dynamlc(walkingslmuulatlon) The study of strength exe~ed on the bra can bemeasured by the stereo-correlatlon nlethod with the advantagcto be carlled out on a bust invarlant in time.

Thls demon strator ls representative f a woman’s bUstfind[herefnre Js approved So，jt becomes a heIping tooI in lhedestgn of bFas Several jmprovements COUld not be madc ln thetime schedule，partlcularly abouf the shapc bclow bFeast andthe kinetlcs t the dommV I hesesou Jd and wiIl be done ln thenear rIJture It WIlI be qulte easyto rnllow up on this project as．inthe meaniline Auureie has beenhired by DBA Apparel and wnill berespOHSIble for this preject.

DBA AppareI alld UCMTFlnvolvemcnts. “This Study is part f ourstrateglc research and innovation”says anne-Chrlstlne Ayed“it ls acentraJ function servIClng alJ ou rbrands whlch must brlng addedvaIue to customers and be protectedby mtellectual property.this StUdythrough ITECH ChaIlenge has grearpotentlal，we are very pleased t have AUERlle ln our team nowand LOOk Frward To the next steps we Will take t get hIs studyinto our own framewors. Of course we consldcr it is a realhonor that the student team has been awarded the Flrst Drlze andare very happy they have recelYed the UCMTF grant l havepersonally made the trip to Munith where they were homoredduring last ITMA show and received thelr prlze.

Marc Brabant also made the trlD His own coneluSlOfl ls\"weare proud t heIp young talents on the threshold of thelr careers，to help theln werk with alld for the mdUStry．eo faell’ltate thelrmsemon into profeSSlOnal irc Thesc StUdles glye us wefthexploring avenues for our own R＆D and then can 1ead IOnew innovations in the machlnes we deslgn Concernlng fhlspartlcular study I conslder that these thFee standout StUdentshave conducfed a superlor research study which W111 belnCluded 1n Research and DevelOpment f tomorrow’s apparel.

The Company they wetked wlth and for has hlred oneof them who Wlll contlDUe to work on thc proJect wc havesponsored what a reward It，r us!”