Circling Sustainability and Responsibility: Exploring Synergies between the Circular Economy, Synthetic Biology and Responsible Research and Innovation
February 12, 2021
FUTURE WARDROBE. Clothing of the future supported by EU grant.
February 24, 2021
Material Designer and Ph.D. research student Romy Kaiser is granted the Sustainable Development Award 2021 for her previously completed Master Thesis Kera-Plast at the Swedish School of Textiles.
The Sustainable Development Award is yearly granted by the University of Borås (Sweden) and the Swedish Sparbanksstiftelsen Sjuhärad for extraordinary degree projects contributing and driven by sustainable development. This year Romy Kaiser was awarded for her interdisciplinary Master’s Thesis. In her project Kera-Plast, she investigates the plasticization of keratin-based fibers through compression-molded human hair in relation to textile design methods. In collaboration with the Polymer Lab at the University of Borås, a method was developed to create a stiff renewable material out of waste human hair fibers. Romy applies textile design methods to control the short fibers enabling to the creation of different aesthetical and functional qualities out of the leftover material. As part of the grant motivation the jury states ” […] The thesis systematically introduces through a theoretical and experimental approach a cutting-edge textile perspective on material origin, function, and re-use with the aim of reducing in design and production the environmental impact of textile materials (Goal 13, Agenda 2030)”. The prize was announced on the 01.12.2020 at the Days of Knowledge Celebration in Borås, Sweden (Online) and covers a fund of 5000SEK.
More information can be found in the interview with Romy: https://www.hb.se/en/about-ub/current/news-archive/2020/december/sustainable-development-should-be-essential/
