Staff profiles

• Centre for Research in Advanced Textiles (CReATe)
• Advanced Fibre Materials

Professor Tilak Dias's research is centred on the disciplines of textile material properties, performance and design and has been largely interdisciplinary in nature, involving the relationships between structure, properties and performance. Since 2002 Professor Dias has focused his research activities in two areas:

• advanced knitted structures
• integration of textile technology with other technologies.

The above research focus has led into such diverse fields as:

• knitted sensors
• embroidered antennas
• encapsulation of micro-chips within the fibres of a yarn
• electrically heatable knitted structures
• knee ligament prostheses
• eczema garments
• varicose ulcer and lymphoedema treatment systems
• burns garments.

Professor Dias played a pivotal role in developing the UK's TechniTex Faraday Partnership with the other hub partners, Herriot-Watt University, Leeds University and BTTG in 1999 - 2004. During the last ten years Professor Dias has attracted over £11 million from a broad portfolio of funding sources (Wellcome Trust, Department of Health-NEAT, DTI Innovations Fund, DTI-EPSRC Faraday Partnership, Clothworker's Foundation, ERDF, EU-EQUAL Programme and Industry), for his research, technology translation and knowledge transfer projects, and equipment donations for research from leading textile machine manufacturers.

These aspects of Professor Dias's work have led to considerable international interest and a number of invitations to international conferences (e.g. Ueda Conference on Fibres and Textiles in Japan, Asian Textile Conference in Hong Kong, ICCE conferences in USA, and SWIRF, NASA, Houston).

Current projects:

• smart heating textiles (heating gloves, heating back supports and garments)
• knitted transducers, sensors and health monitoring garments
• Knitted garments for motion detection and controlling electronic devices
• light emitting textiles (LET)
• textile antenna systems
• 3D seamless customised compression garments for the treatment of venous disease, lymphoedema and burns
• textile systems for generating localised pressure regions in next to skin garments
• smart blood measuring cuffs
• three dimensionally knitted structures for drug delivery systems
• three dimensionally knitted garments for prosthetics
• scan to knit technology
• intelligent yarn delivery systems for computerised knitting machines
• 3D knitted spacer structures for architectural, medical and PPE applications.

Current grants:

• high Performance Flexible, Fabric Electronics for MegaHertz Frequency Communications; EPSRC-IeMRC grant of £465,249.00 (total grant value) with Professor J C Vardaxoglou, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at University of Loughborough; (2010-2013)
• Centre for Advanced Textiles (CATs); HEIF grant of £25,000.00 (2010-2011).

Previous grants:

• wearable computing for real time monitoring of 3D foot orientation; NEAT (DoH) grant of £67,360.00 with Dr L Kenney at Centre for Rehabilitation and Human Performance Research, University of Salford; (2008-2009)
• compression garments for chronic large arm lymphoedema; NEAT (DoH) grant of £278,184.00 with Professor N Bundred in Department of Surgery at South Manchester University Hospital NHS Trust; (2005-2007)
• development of Health Vest for vital sign monitoring of older people; grant of £254,952.00 from SmartLife Technology Ltd; (2005-2007)
• engineered compression garments for venous disease; Wellcome Trust grant of £493,080.00 with Professor C McCollum in Vascular Studies Unit at South Manchester University Hospital; (2000-2003)
• knitwear Incubator; ERDF grant of £2,054,108.00; (2002-2006)
• NW Technical Textiles Partnership; ERDF grant of £1,400,000.00; (2002-2006)
• Knowledge for Innovation (K4I); EQUAL grant of £5,458,000.00; (2004-2007).

Professor Dias's research has resulted in three novel core technology platforms; which have resulted in the formation of three spin out companies in the UK for their commercial exploitation; ATM Ltd , SmartLifeInc Ltd and EntellFibres Ltd. He has published over 90 scientific papers in leading journals and conferences and is named as the lead inventor in 23 distinct patents / patent applications (six licensed and twelve assigned to industry).

Invited key note lectures:

• Dias, T. Knitted 3D structures, invited guest lecture of the conference 3D Fabric Forming, Centre for Textile Research, University of Boras, Sweden, September 1998
• Dias, T. Novel technology for design and engineering pressure systems for the treatment of venous ulcers, invited guest lecture of the Second International Conference on Advanced Fibre/Textile Materials 2002, Ueda, Japan, November 2002
• Dias, T. Knitting in the 3rd dimension and knitted transducers, invited guest lecture of the conference Future Textiles, National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, March 2004
• Dias, T. Smart and intelligent knitted structures, invited guest lecture of the special workshop organised by the Textile Institute, Sri Lanka section, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, August 2004
• Dias, T. Future Textiles, invited guest lecture of the Textile Industry Special Seminar, Textile Institute of Pakistan, Karachi, February 2005
• Dias, T. Innovation and knitting, invited guest lecture of the Textile Industry Special Seminar, Textile Institute of Pakistan, Karachi,, August 2006
• Dias, T. and Pedley, M., Cool Sensors for a Freer Lifestyle, invited guest lecture of the 22nd Meeting of the Intelligent Sensing Programme of Sensors and Instrumentation KTN, IEE, Savoy Place, London, January 2008
• Dias, T. Knitted Medical Textiles – Research to Commercialisation, invited guest lecture of the special workshop organised by the Textile Institute, Sri Lanka section, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, August 2009
• Dias, T. Smart Textiles - Adding value to Sri Lankan textiles - the Electro-textiles Option, invited guest lecture of the special workshop organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology, Biyagama Export Processing Zone, Sri Lanka, August 2009

Visiting appointments:

• 2006 Aug. Visiting Academic Advisor, Textile Institute Pakistan; Invited by the Higher Education Council of Pakistan (one week)
• 2005 Feb. Visiting Academic Advisor, Textile Institute Pakistan; Invited by the Higher Education Council of Pakistan (one week)
• 2004 March Visiting Academic Advisor, Department of Textiles, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe, British Council Fellowship (two weeks)
• 2003 Aug. Visiting Academic Advisor, Department of Textiles, National University of Science and Technology, Zimbabwe, British Council Fellowship (two weeks)
• 1998 Aug. Visiting Lecturer, Department of Textiles, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, British Council Fellowship (six weeks)
• 1995 Sept. Visiting Lecturer, Department of Textiles, University of Mauritius, British Council Fellowship (two weeks)
• 1994 March Visiting Lecturer, Department of Textiles, University of Mauritius, British Council Fellowship (three weeks)
• 1989 Nov. Visiting Research Fellow, Institut für Textil- und Verharenstechnik, Denkendorf, Germany (five weeks)
• 1988 Oct. Visiting Research Fellow, Institut für Textil- und Verharenstechnik, Denkendorf, Germany (eight weeks

Professional services:

• 2000 – 2002 Member of the EPSRC School
• 2002 – 2005 Lead academic on Textiles of the NWUA
• 2000 – 2004 Member of the Board of Management, TechniTex Faraday Partnership
• 2002 – Technical Director, Engineered Fibre Structures Ltd
• 2004 – 2008 Research Director, SmartLife Technology Ltd
• 2009 - Research Director, EntellFibres Ltd.

Current area of supervision:

• electronic textiles to monitor human body gestures
• strain sensing textiles
• textiles for temperature measurement
• textiles for blood pressure measurement
• light emitting textiles
• compression garments for sports
• 3D seamless knitting.

• Knitted compression garments
• Electronic textiles
• Textiles for personal protection equipment
• Medical textiles