NEST for Nordic smart textiles

The Nordic Centre of Excellence for Smart Textiles and Wearable Technologies (NEST) is a new Centre of Excellence, which includes all the main research institutes in the Nordic countries and Lithuania.

Several research institutes in the Nordic and Baltic countries have carried out R&D projects on smart textiles and wearable technology on their own for the past eight to nine years. In 2003 it was felt that by joining forces more resources could be brought into the projects to better qualify for international funding, and NEST established. The members of the CoE are SmartWearLab and Kankaanpää Unit of the Institute of Electronics of Tampere University of Technology, IFP SICOMP, Swedish School of Textiles, Danish Technological Institute, SINTEF and the Faculty of Design and Technology of Kaunas University.

Smart textiles and wearable technology solutions give added value to a large variety of products. Potential application areas are:

• • Health care, e.g. patients’ clothing with integrated sensors
• • Protective clothing for extreme working conditions, e.g. fire fighters
• • Technical textiles
• • Sport and leisure wear
• • Military clothing

Contact information

Tampere University of Technology, SmartWearLab
Dr. Harriet Meinander, harriet.meinander@tut.fi

Tampere University of Technology, Institute of Electronics
Prof. Jukka Vanhala, jukka.vanhala@tut.fi

IFP Research AB
Ronald Pedersen, ronald.pedersen@ifp.se

University college of Borås , The Swedish school of textiles
Prof. Marion Ellwanger, marion.ellwanger@hb.se

SINTEF Health Research
Prof. Randi E. Reinertsen, randi.e.reinertsen@sintef.no

Danish Technological Institute, Textile
John Hansen, john.hansen@teknologisk.dk

Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Design and Technologies
Prof. Eugenija Strazdiene, eugenija.strazdiene@ktu.lt