Strong textile competences from Sweden

The Danish Technological Institute recruits textile engineers from Sweden as this is the only country in the Nordic region which has this particular education programme. In this way, the Institute can focus on the innovative utilisation of technical textiles in buildings.

‘Advanced Textile Engineering’ is a new and exciting field of operation for the Danish Technological Institute.

- Textiles have great potential in the building industry. We can see possibilities for developing textiles as concrete reinforcement, textiles to use in casting forms for concrete elements and textiles to reinforce and protect surfaces and facades, says textile engineer Ellen Svensson, who has brought new competences to an exciting research and development environment at the Danish Technological Institute.

Ellen Svensson works closely together with two other textile engineers, Anna-Carin Jonsson and Susanna Bjunö. All three are Swedish and trained at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, which is the only engineering school in the Nordic region that offers education programmes in textile engineering. Ellen Svensson is also a European Master in Advanced Textile Engineering.

The group works with all forms of textiles including technical textiles for buildings and other uses as well as more traditional textiles for clothing and furniture.

For Denmark the technological textile competences are important in spite of the fact that production in the textile industry is as a rule located in countries with lower labour costs. This is because product development and design are still done here in Denmark so the industry needs advice, help with requirement specifications and sampling which can ensure that the products meet customer demands.

Denmark needs the high level of technological competence in textiles brought over from Sweden. Innovative application of textiles has great potential in construction and the textile industry’s product development and design still take place here in Denmark.