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Lectra Awards Design Faculty and Graduate Students at ITAA Annual Conference

Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using soft materials -- textiles, leather, industrial fabrics and composite materials -- is pleased to announce its continued support for educational programs that promote technology in the apparel industry through its participation in the 2009 International Textile and Apparel Association's (ITAA) Annual Conference, recently held at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, Washington.

The ITAA is a professional educational association composed of leading university scholars, educators and students working in the textile, apparel and merchandising disciplines. "Lectra is proud to be a corporate member of the ITAA," states Roy Shurling, President of Lectra North America. "Our company is committed to supporting the educational realm and the industry's next generation of Fashion professionals; this is why it is important for us to award the most creative teachers and students."

In addition to showcasing their leading professional textile and fashion design platform, Kaledo®, their benchmark pattern-making solution specifically designed for the fashion market Modaris®, as well as, Modaris 3D Fit, the highest performance virtual 3D prototyping solution on the market at the show, Lectra also sponsored five awards to the faculty and graduate students.

The "Lectra Outstanding Faculty Designer Award" is an award given to the most talented university faculty designer for their design submitted to the ITAA selection committee. This year, 101 designs were selected out of 359 designs entries submitted. At the end of the professional Fashion Show, the "Lectra Outstanding Faculty Designer Award" was given to Vincent Quevedo, Associate Professor from Kent State University for the design submission 'Midnight'.

According to Hari Kenkare, Lectra's Schools Partnership Manager, "Vincent Quevedo created an ornate bolero and fitted pants inspired by a matadors outfit. Techniques such as draping, couture sewing and fabric manipulations were used to create this design. The work was based on a request of the American Heart Association's Red Dress Campaign, an initiative designed to raise awareness for heart disease, the number one killer in the United States."

Quevedo was awarded a trip to Paris, France in September 2010 that includes a visit to Lectra's world headquarters and an invitation to attend The World's Premier Fabric Show(TM), Première Vision, that brings together 50,000 professional visitors from 106 different countries in the French capital.

"Lectra Outstanding Graduate Student Designer Award," which was given to Mee Jekal of Hanyang University, Korea for the design submission "The Blooming Scented". The design was created with the focus on feminine silhouette using flexible and various knit structures. Mee's faculty sponsor was Youn Hee Lee.

"Lectra Graduate Student Award for Use of Technology" was given to Anne Porterfield of North Carolina State University, for the design submission "Postcard From Morocco." This design was inspired by a costume created for a production of the opera, Postcard from Morocco. The design uses engineered print methodology for rendering the design inspired by the opera's haunting aria recalling the sinewy intertwining of the Art Deco vines and floral motifs. Anne's faculty sponsor was Traci Lamar.

The "Lectra Innovation Award for Teaching" was given to Linda Gardner and Allison Young of Alabama A&M University for their work entitled "A Digital Fashion Design Competition." Gardner and Young created a digital fashion design competition to provide a way in which student designs are honored and showcased. The students' designs were posted on the internet and participants interacted by selecting winning designs. "Students related very well to this activity because they frequently use the internet as a common means of communication. This was also a recruitment activity because it gave much needed visibility to the Apparel, Merchandising, and Design studies across campus," according to Linda Gardner and Allison Young.

Lectra also awarded the "Lectra Innovation Award for Faculty Research," which was given to Adriana Petrova of Oklahoma State University for her work entitled "Use of Body Scan Technology to Capture the Space Enclosed by a Garment: Case Study of Segmented Arm Body Armor". The purpose of the study was to explore the possibility of using body scanning technology to effectively capture the inner space enclosed in a piece of body armor. The study revealed that body scanning technology can be successfully used to measure the thickness profile of body armor, accurately providing a visual and numerical description of the enclosed body armor, if it is rigid enough to retain its shape during the scan.

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 aeronautical and marine industries, wind power and personal protective equipment. Lectra serves 23,000 customers in more than 100 countries with 1500 employees and $292million in 2008 revenues. The company is listed on Euronext Paris.

For more information, please visit www.lectra.com

® Kaledo and Modaris are registered trademarks of Lectra.