As we welcome the new year, the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Textile Research Institute (DOST-PTRI) enters a new milestone as it marks its 51st year towards the development of high quality textiles. Staying committed to its vision, PTRI still carries its flagship tagline “Textiles Empowering Lives Anew (TELA)” and its promise to use textiles as an instrument in improving the livelihood of Filipinos in the countryside and textile manpower of the nation.

For this year’s celebration, TELA fused with “Concept to Cloth” – a theme that centers to giving an opportunity to the government, academe, and private sectors to translate ideas, literally and figuratively, into materials, processes or solutions leading to more prospects and impact in the textile sector.

Centered on this theme, on January 30, 2018, DOST-PTRI will open its doors towards new innovations as the institute sets foot on a high time for textile advancement after five decades of being the lead textile research and development arm of the DOST. During this event, DOST-PTRI will be launching its new programs and initiatives that embody the “Concept to Cloth” theme. These are:

• New Technology Business Incubator Facility for Natural Dyes – DOST-PTRI launches its new multi-million facility in producing powdered natural dyes. The facility aims to provide technical support to MSMEs, start-ups and social entrepreneurs in enhancing their textile/natural dye-based businesses.

• “The Perfect Fit” Project (Textile Product Development Center) – aimed to be the first textile R&D “laboratory” in the Philippines that will provide access to textile designers, artists, retailers, and manufacturers to aid them in the prototyping of their designs/products for evaluation/assessment before offering it to the public. The facility will feature state-of-the-art equipment for textile product development such as 3D Body Scanner, 3D visualization system, and computerized fabric prototyping loom. These pieces of equipment are expected to be acquired in 2018.

• “ArtisTELA” – a design competition promoting creative innovations in textiles through various enhancement techniques and material manipulation. This competition will run in 2018.

• Philippine Silk Road Program – a multi-project program aimed to provide technological solutions to address the low production capacity in silk yarn production. The project aims to increase collaboration with multi-stakeholders in moriculture and sericulture activities, set up two (2) micro scale filature facilities in northern Luzon and Mindanao, help upgrade silk yarn manufacturing capability in the Visayas by the lone commercial silk yarn producer located in Negros Occidental. Concurrent to these, new commercial silkworm hybrids with improved performance will be developed using a genome-based approach.

• Design Competition for Government Uniforms – a design competition aimed to produce uniform design prototypes for select government agencies that will utilize Philippine Tropical Fabrics and local weaves. This is in support of RA 9242 or the Philippine Tropical Fabrics Act, which prescribes the use of Philippine Tropical Fibers. This aims to mainstream Philippine Tropical Fabrics and local weaves in normal, everyday wear.

• TELA Yarn Production and Innovation Center in Miag-ao, Iloilo – the first micro-scale yarn spinning facility to support Philippine Tropical Fabric production and development with full scale equipment from pretreatment to carding, drawing, roving, spinning, to finishing as weave-ready yarns for the supply of the handloom weaving communities of Iloilo and the whole Panay island group.

• Concept Presentation of the Proposed DOST-PTRI “Textile Design Hub” ¬– the proposed hub concept is a physical and virtual space which brings together textile stakeholders – academe, social entrepreneurs, and local weaving communities. Its aim is to be a convener, providing space and support for networking, business development and community engagement with the local textile industry. It is envisioned to encourage more initiatives and collaborations among academe, social enterprises and, industry sector aiming to translate innovative concepts into market-ready textile products.

Still on January 30, following the presentation of the new PTRI programs and initiatives, a workshop exclusive to designers and social entrepreneurs will be conducted. The “Drafting Weave Designs” is an interactive workshop that will teach designers and social entrepreneurs how to make “draw patterns” for handloom weaving. This will enable them to translate their design weave ideas into a form that will be easily understood by local weavers.

An Open House will follow on January 30 to enable first-hand views and close encounters with the research, testing and technical services teams of the Institute.

Moreover, scheduled on February 01, 2017 is a Lecture-Workshop on Natural Dyes and Colorants Program. Department of Science and Technology researchers who attended a short-course in this topic at the Ohio State University will echo all the knowledge and techniques they have gained from the course. Included in the whole day seminar is comprehensive demonstration on the use of natural dyes and colorants which application is not limited to textiles but will also cover potentials in food and cosmetics.

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