Prof. Xiaoming Tao
Prof. Xiaoming Tao, Chair Professor of ITC, is the recipient of the 2020 Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award granted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering. She was nominated for the award by the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering.
This is a prestigious award that acknowledges Chinese engineering science and technology experts who have made important contributions and outstanding achievements in the related fields. It is the highest award in the engineering field by social organizations in China. Since 1996, the biennial Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award has been awarded 13 times. A total of 305 recipients who hail from different engineering fields have been given the honor, including for example, machinery, electronics, chemicals, textiles, etc.
As a textile engineering expert, Prof. Tao has made original contributions in the areas of new spinning and smart textile technology.
Prof. Tao has led her team to propose for the first time a new ring-spun single yarn structure and a theory around low torque, low twist and high strength yarns. They have invented a one-step low-torque single yarn spinning method by modifying a conventional spinning frame to produce single yarns with the unique new structure, thus successfully remedying a major technical problem of ring-spun yarn with low twist and low strength that has long plagued the industry. Under the premise of ensuring quality and production efficiency, the yarn twist is greatly reduced and the productivity of the spinning frame is increased. Other advantages of this technology include reducing energy use during spinning, and avoiding the fiber damage that is common in the original process and the use and discharge of steam, water and chemicals. It is the first time that this technology has been successfully applied in the industry worldwide to realize mass production, and has achieved significant economic and social benefits.
Fabric electronic sensing technologies have been invented including fabric strain gauges, pressure sensors and bio-potential electrodes that are sensitive and reliable, capable of large deformation sensing, have anti-fatigue ability, resistant to washing, and have a highly dynamic response. They overcome the shortcomings of the existing technologies such as small measurement range, poor repeatability and stability, and non-washability. Their industrialized production has been achieved, thus providing the real practical textile electronic sensing technologies for numerous wearable systems. A number of theoretical models and experimental methods have been proposed for fiber-based optoelectronic devices. Prof. Tao is recognized as one of the world leaders in the field of smart textile research.
Prof. Tao is Chair Professor of Textile Technology and Director of the Research Center for Smart Wearable Technology at ITC. She is the former World President of The Textile Institute, an international professional society.
