Chapters authored
E-Textiles to Promote Interdisciplinary Education
Electronic textiles (e-textiles) is a current research and development direction of the textile domain. As final applications, e-textiles may monitor human vital signs for sports and medicine, may extend garment functionality for entertainment, or ensure electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) using flexible textile shields. However, this book chapter focuses on a certain aspect of e-textiles, namely, their role in promoting interdisciplinary education. E-textile products are the result of material science, physics, mathematics, mechanics, electronics, and more recently of software and Artificial Intelligence (AI). This was the rationale for initiating three Erasmus+ projects in the field of e-textiles to foster interdisciplinary training for students and young professionals. The new educational materials tackle the relation between Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) disciplines of the official curricula and some of their final applications, such as e-textile prototypes. The educational materials are conceived in a problem-based learning (PBL) approach. The presented examples encompass fabrics with inserted metallic yarns and metallic coating for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, pressure sensors, and related electronic data processing, as well as virtual prototyping of Radio frequency (RF) suits. EMC is tackled from an educational perspective.
Part of the book: Innovation and Evolution in Tertiary Education [Working title]