Lectra Awards Design Faculty at the ITAA Annual Conference

Lectra Showcases Kaledo, Modaris and Modaris 3D Fit at 2008 International Textile and Apparel Association Conference

• Press Release
• Source: Lectra
• On Monday January 12, 2009, 11:18 am EST

ATLANTA, GA--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 12, 2009 -- Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using soft materials -- textiles, leather, industrial fabrics, and composite materials -- today announced its continued support for educational programs that promote technology in the apparel industry through its participation in the 2008 International Textile and Apparel Association's (ITAA) Annual Conference, recently held at the Hyatt in Schaumburg, Illinois.

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The ITAA is a professional educational association composed of leading university scholars, educators and students working in the textile, apparel and merchandising disciplines.

In addition to showcasing their leading state-of-the-art professional design software platform Kaledo®, their benchmark pattern-making solution especially designed for the fashion market Modaris® and Modaris 3D Fit, the highest performance virtual 3D prototyping solution on the market at the show, Lectra also sponsored & presented three awards to the outstanding faculty works in design, teaching & research.

The "Lectra Outstanding Faculty Designer Award" is an award given to an outstanding university faculty designer for their design submitted to ITAA selection committee. This year, 288 entries were submitted. At the end of a professional Fashion Show, the "Lectra's outstanding faculty designer award" was given. This year the winner is Annette Ames, Associate Professor from Marymount University for the design submission 'Ancient Future II.' The work was based on current cultural influences on fashion in the near future. The design idea was from historical and frictional feminine archetypes, and used draping technique to develop the piece. The winner was awarded a trip to Paris, France that will include a visit to Lectra's world headquarters and an invitation to attend the renowned seasonal fabric exhibition show, Première Vision, in September 2009.

The second award was the "Lectra Innovation Award for Teaching," which was given to Melanie Carrico and Ann Ramsey of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for their work entitled "Design Principles and Aesthetics: hybrid course using technology tools." Their innovative work was reconfigured in a hybrid, or blended, format with some traditional in-class activities and lectures (synchronous) and some on-line class activities (asynchronous) to infuse the curriculum with more technology use.

Lectra also awarded the "Lectra Innovation Award for Faculty Research," which was given to J.R. Campbell, Vicky Begg & Alan Shaw of the Centre for Advanced Textiles, Glasgow School of Art, UK for their work entitled "Cross-technology, Cross-generations: Digital re-interpretations of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh textile designs." Their research work was conducted in two phases with the objective of digitally capturing, cleaning & re-interpretive printing and, creating digitally inspired re-interpretations of Mackintosh's original sketches.

"Lectra is proud of its long-standing dedication to the ITAA, as part of its involvement in promoting textile and apparel education. We are delighted by the level of innovation and creativity emerging from teachers and universities," according to Hari Kenkare, Schools Partnership Manager for Lectra North America.

A member of the ITAA, Lectra provides innovative, apparel-dedicated solutions that span the entire product lifecycle, covering design, product development, prototyping, manufacturing and retailing. The company offers the apparel industry's most highly-integrated technologies, all backed by 35 years of multi-sector experience and an unrivaled international service network.

About International Textile and Apparel Association's (ITAA)

The ITAA is a professional, educational association composed of scholars, educators, and students in the textile, apparel, and merchandising disciplines in higher education. ITAA welcomes professionals employed in those fields who wish to join with members of the Association in the pursuit of knowledge, interchange of ideas, and dissemination of knowledge through meetings, special events, and publications.

About Lectra

Lectra is the world leader in integrated technology solutions that automate, streamline, and accelerate product design, development, and manufacturing processes for industries using soft materials. Lectra develops the most advanced specialized software and cutting systems and provides associated services to a broad array of markets including fashion (apparel, accessories, footwear), automotive (car seats and interiors, airbags), furniture, as well as a wide variety of other market sectors, such as the aeronautical and marine industries, wind power, personal protective equipment. Lectra serves 20,000 customers in more than 100 countries with 1,550 employees and $297 million in 2007 revenues. The company is listed on Euronext Paris.

For more information, please visit www.lectra.com

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