Bob Carswell is a founding member and the R&D Director at Material Return, a pioneering company dedicated to building a sustainable and socially responsible economy. Material Return focuses on custom circularity solutions for textile brands and manufacturers, leveraging worker-owned models and cutting-edge technology. Bob leads the development of custom circular yarns and products, working with his team to close the loop on textile waste in the U.S. while ensuring that workers play a central role in this emerging circular economy.
Category: Speaker Bios
Amy Bircher Bruyn
Amy Bircher Bruyn is the CEO and Founder of MMI Textiles, Inc., a global industrial and custom textile supplier she established in 1997. With over 40 years of experience in the U.S. textile industry, Amy has driven innovation, expanded U.S. manufacturing, and strengthened domestic supply chains. She has successfully acquired three textile businesses, including her family’s company, NDW Textiles (formerly National Dye Works, Inc.), with her latest acquisition of Jason Mills LLC closing in December 2024.
Jeffrey (Jeff) L. Neuville
Jeff Neuville joined the Manufacturing Solutions Center in June 2022 as Director, where he oversees a staff of 26 people dedicated to supporting US manufacturing and creating and retaining US jobs. The Manufacturing Solutions Center assists US manufacturers with product development and prototyping services, hosts an on-site business incubator, and has an ISO accredited testing […]
Ahmed El-Shafei, Ph.D.
El-Shafei is a professor and the Program Director of Polymer and Color Chemistry at Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University. He is a world renowned expert in dye chemistry and sustainable dyeing and finishing with more than 255 scholarly articles including 144 peer-review papers, 34 referred conference proceedings, two book chapters, one book, three patents, […]
Despina Papadopoulos
Despina is a pioneering leader in the wearable technology and e-textiles world, regularly consulting major brands and start-ups on e-textiles development and commercialization. She has developed a wide range of award-winning wearable technology projects and solutions, including the mBracelet for NCR, the world’s first sweat-sensing t-shirt for Nivea / Beiersdorf, a heated jacket for Lubrizol […]
Katelyn Lee
Katelyn Lee works in Textile Chemistry Research at Cotton Incorporated. She has been with Cotton Incorporated since 2007. She managed day-to-day operations in the digital printing and garment wet processing laboratories for five years. Her present role as a Textile Chemist focuses on conducting applied research projects to improve performance in enzymatic processing, dyeing, and […]
Louis T. (Lou) Protonentis
Louis T. (Lou) Protonentis began his textile career in his mid-teens working in a local mill weighing up dye in the drug room. His initial formal education was in Pre-Law with a degree in Administration of Justice from Guilford College. After being accepted at law school, he decided to instead enter the work force and […]
Rick Stanford
Rick Stanford is the Vice President of Global Business Development for Baldwin Technology’s Textile Division. He and his wife Lisa reside in Rock Hill, South Carolina. They have one daughter. Rick is a graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in Industrial Management. He has more than 30 years in the textile industry. […]
Ludwig Huber
Ludwig was born in 1988 in Bavaria, Germany and studied chemistry and biology with focus on teaching. After his master thesis on the solvatochromism of indigo dyes he started in 2015 his doctorate in organic chemistry in the working group of Dr. Henry Dube at LMU in Munich , where he focused on the development […]
Dr. Jan Beringer
Dr. Jan Beringer is the Senior Scientific Expert for Hohenstein. In this role, he uses an interdisciplinary approach to develop the comfort, fit and workmanship of garments, functionalization of fabrics, textile UV protection and textile reprocessing. He has extensive knowledge in textile and fiber chemistry, functionalization, nanotechnology, coating and finishing and clothing physiology. Dr. Beringer […]
