David McAlister is the Founder and Chief Textile Technologist at Texoligy, a consultancy specializing in innovation, engineering, and training. Research and development have been at the center of his 38+ year career built on a strong grounding in manufacturing with the likes of Mount Vernon Mills and Parkdale Mills. David has led the past research efforts at the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Cotton Quality Research Unit, working with new varieties and leading commercial scale variety trials to understand the relationships between field, fiber, and mill. Until most recently, he was responsible for the global management of the fiber testing product line for Uster Technology including new product development and marketing.
Category: Speaker Bios
Nathan Fisher
Nathan is a Key Account Executive with Daikin America, Inc. and a respected leader in the textile industry, bringing more than 25 years of experience spanning textile chemistry, finishing operations, laboratory analysis, and technical sales. A graduate of North Carolina State University with a degree in Textile Chemistry, Nathan has built his career from the plant floor and lab to senior commercial leadership roles.
Alejandro “Alex” Franco
Alejandro “Alex” Franco is Vice President of PSP Marketing Inc, a manufacturing representative organization serving leading global textile machinery suppliers including Monforts GmbH, Fong’s National Engineering Company, Goller GmbH, Electro-Jet, Escarré Automation, Sieger Automation, and TVE Escale.
Tanya Wade
Tanya Wade is the Textile Resource Lab and THREAD-X Project Manager at the Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC), as well as the Sewn Goods Workshop Instructor for the Carolina Textile District (CTD). With over 13 years at the MSC, Tanya has worked closely with entrepreneurs, brands and manufacturers to support domestic production, leading educational workshops, factory tours, and countless sourcing interactions.
Tricia Carey
Tricia Carey is the Chief Commercial Officer at Avalo, an ag-tech innovator accelerating crop evolution through AI to produce climate-resilient, low-carbon cotton. With a career rooted in sustainable innovation, Tricia has been instrumental in advancing fiber solutions by launching TENCEL™ globally with Lenzing and commercializing CIRCULOSE® at Renewcell.
Buddy Garrett
Buddy Garrett is Associate Director, Textile Chemistry Research at Cotton Incorporated. In this role, Buddy oversees the Color Services Laboratory, Garment Wet Processing Laboratory, and Digital Printing Laboratory. As well, he assists in preparation and dyeing related research and development along with troubleshooting dyeing related issues and research involving garment performance finishing applications. Prior to […]
Fabian Walda
Fabian Walda is a textile engineer by profession with over a decade of experience in sustainability standard setting at Bluesign, where he contributed to building tools and criteria for safer and more sustainable chemistry and responsible industries. He recently joined the RUDOLF Group to advance sustainability from a corporate and implementation-driven perspective.
Ben Mead
Ben Mead serves as the Managing Director of Hohenstein Institute America. In this role, he is the company’s liaison with industry collaborations, government agencies and trade associations, while leading a team spread over North and Latin America. He also oversees OEKO-TEX® responsibilities for the U.S.
Dr. Gunther Duschek
Dr. Gunther Duschek is the Managing Director as the CTOO of RUDOLF, which has a global workforce of 2,000 employees across 50 locations. With over 25 years of experience in the
field of R&D in textile auxiliaries, Dr. Duschek has played a pivotal role in propelling innovation within the textile industry. He holds a diploma in chemistry and a doctorate in natural sciences,
having completed his studies at the University of Ulm and his doctoral research on fluorocarbons at Clariant, Basel.
Thomas Braun
Overseeing and running Swisstex California as Dyehouse manager and then as Technical Director gave me for 25 years an unparallel volume of experience in efficient and sustainable textile manufacturing, digital color management and the development of advanced dyeing processes.
