Textile-based electrodes are about to be competitive alternatives to traditional electrodes for ECG and EMG. Electrodes integrated into textiles are easier to use which facilitates home-based monitoring, treatment and rehabilitation measures. One potential key application is Phantom Limb Pain (PLP) treatment using Phantom Motor Execution (PME), where EMG signal from the remaining muscles of the amputated limb is used to control a Virtual Reality (VR) representation of the lost limb. However, textile electrodes still need to be improved regarding electrode contact and adhesion to the skin. This calls for new sensing materials that may not have textile properties and thus need to be integrated into the textile in new ways. So, the aim of this project is to a) try new sensing materials that will improve the electrode contact and adhesion to the skin, and b) find ways to solve the interfacial linkage between the sensing material and the textile substrate. The project will focus on novel materials and textile construction development to overcome these issues. The main project deliverable is generic textile matrixes of electrodes that can be competitive alternatives to traditional electrodes. This should contribute to making e.g. PLP treatment generally available and easy to use as improved electrode signal quality would lead to better treatment effect, durability and sustainability. The concept of controlling the lost limb (central to the PLP treatment based on PME) is directly transferable to myoelectric controlled prostheses. Thus, we also aim to test what the new type of electrode matrixes could contribute to this “twin” application. The applicant's expert knowledge in sensing materials can together with smart textile experts (University of Borås), biomechatronic and pain researchers, and clinical connections (Chalmers Industriteknik) and users with limb differences make a breakthrough that addresses issues of high technical and social relevance.

The Education4Fashion-Tech project (2017-2020) aims to advance and boost the skills and knowledge of designers in the areas of smart textiles, wearables and digital manufacturing. The growing heterogeneous sector of fashion-tech has potential for socio-economic impact, and the changing innovation landscape requires the fashion industry to adapt and advance collaborative practices to boost its competitiveness. However, the skills and knowledge between the fashion and technology fields are not shared, regardless of the European market’s position to exploit the potential from smart textiles and wearables. The project enhanced the quality and relevance of the learning experience through an innovative approach to fashion-tech higher education by supporting innovation and creativity through a strategic partnership and inter- and transdisciplinary approaches. The novel approach enabled a breaking down of barriers between the communities of design and technology to build meaningful collaborations. The partnership included three key countries (SE, IT, UK) by involving three leading fashion and design higher education institutions (HEI): Swedish School of Textiles – University of Borås, Politecnico di Milano and University of the Arts London - London College of Fashion. The diverse consortium, also involving relevant associations and an advisory board, aimed to ensure that the developed curriculum is informed by the industry´s practice and need for hybrid professionals. A Benchmarking Report was produced, laying the foundations for the development of the Fashion-Tech Tuning Document, by defining the state-of-the-art of didactic experiences of HEIs, research centres and industry, in Europe and globally. A Teacher's Toolkit and Learning Units propose a modular approach to fashion-tech education, providing teachers with appropriate methods and tools, as well as content specific units. Complementary to the Tuning Document, the set of resources allow HEIs and involved teachers to develop interdisciplinary fashion-tech design curricula, supporting the production of hybrid professionals needed by the industry. The Community Platform (https://www.e4ft.eu) serves as a central meeting point and a source of inspiration for those interested in the field. The final deliverable “Education for Fashion-Tech: Design and Technology for Future Fashion Creatives” provides a comprehensive reflection on the research conducted within the framework of the project to offer examples of didactic configurations, encourage further experimentations and transnational partnerships, as well as identify future scenarios of the fashion-tech field. A total of 298 learners, teachers and external experts and industry stakeholders participated directly in the project´s activities, including a variety of workshops and dissemination events. With a wide range of backgrounds, such as fashion and textile design, textile engineering, fashion innovation and entrepreneurship, interaction design and smart textiles, the participants were supported in the development of generic and subject-specific competences. The activities carried out included a fashion-tech hackathon, a workshop specifically aimed to train the trainers, and 3 intensive programmes focusing on digital manufacturing, wearables and smart textiles. Dissemination events, including the project´s own and external events focusing on fashion-tech and development of education, have contributed to informing academia and industry of the developed resources and novel approach to merge fashion and technology in an MA curriculum. As a first of its kind, the proposed curriculum will engage academia and industry in the discussion of skill sets required by professionals active in the field, leading to concrete measures in the implementation of such curricula to contribute to industry growth and employability of designers. Other short- and long-term benefits and impact include the establishment of a transnational partnership committing to the development of the fashion-tech field, enhancing the quality of the knowledge and skills of participating learners and teachers, as well as supporting open and innovative practices in the digital era. The project ignited follow-up projects and collaborations, such as the FTAlliance - Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliance project (https://fashiontechalliance.eu/) involving twelve partners across academia and industry.

The project Digital Surface Modification of flat surfaces and textiles was successfully carried out at the very right moment as in recent 3 years there has been significant increase of demand on the market for different printing patterns. This has made it possible to differentiate products by making them more diverse and thus significantly increasing the value of the product in the eyes of the customer. Greater use of digital printing technology in the textile and clothing industry ensures the specific nature of mass production and gives it a greater competitive advantage. Smart specialization in the production of materials has led to new technologies where the pattern is printed on a flat surface using a digital method. The constant development of technology and rapid access to information via the Internet have also made EU entrepreneurs think about the introduction of new digital printing technologies. For this purpose the new paradigm of manufacturing has been developed - mass customization. It is called the new industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) where new business models, IT- technology, Internet of things, intelligent adaptable manufacturing processes, smart functional materials, etc are the main topics. The new needs in manufacturing are interdisciplinary thinking, more complex and sophisticated workplaces and processes, new skills and complex knowledge, a lot of collaborative and cross-cultural competences, on-line support for decision making.Taking into account the above this project has successfully developed high level integration of educational institutions and companies (supportive structure); the smart intellectual outputs (innovative subject, executive training course for specialists and other case-based learning supportive tools) as a bases for offering output oriented higher education level education in digital surface modification of flat surfaces and textiles. The following intellectual outputs were achieved during the project : - new innovative subject of digital surface modification on flat surfaces and textiles IO1 - executive training course for specialists of digital printing in the field of textile and clothing IO2Outputs that were worked out in the project considered and used the modern teaching methods and tools for smart education. The best practices, novel approaches in education, needs of partner countries' industries, possibilities and competences of partner educational organizations have been taken into account in development of intellectual outputs. Partners of this project were 2 highly skilled HE institutions Saxion University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, the Swedish School of Textiles at the University of Borås, and representing the industry, the Sportswear Manufacturing Company of Estonia Trimtex Baltic OY. In order to achieve project results, partners fields of subjects related to Digital Printing were studied. Digital Printing industry was contacted to learn their problems in the field. This material enabled to build up the subject and training course. The subject was built up 8 themes and laboratory works. In order to guarantee the quality the subject was piloted to students. The course was built up with 8 themes that can are useful for the industry. In order to guarantee the quality the course was piloted to specialists of the industry. In LTT events entrepreneurs explained their problems in the industry and thus we were able to collect data for future case studies. Depending on the level of difficulty, they can be interpreted either in a subject created for students (I01) or in a course for business professionals (I02). This project involved various participants:- students and staff, who benefit from new innovative subject, which is added to the curricula of textile and clothing. The innovative subject makes the curricula more attractive for students in each educational institution that participated in this project. - expanding businesses, who will have better educated workforce provided by educational institutions and by the research done by these institutions.The most significant indirect impact of the project was the rise of international cooperation between industries and universities, higher qualification of the workforce of the participating institutions. The outputs of this project were disseminated for companies as well as other educational institutions to broaden the possibilities of advanced trainings offered for employees of the companies working in that industry. As human resources are one of the most important resources in the company, education and training that responds to the needs of the industry will provide companies with competent employees thereby increasing the productivity, effectiveness and competitiveness of the companies and the industry as a whole. Strategic international partnerships in the field of education and training are extremely important in order to increase the quality of education and training, which was the main goal of this project.

“History will remember Barack Obama as the great Slayer of Patent Trolls.” The headline from the 2014 March 20 issue of Wired credits POTUS with, perhaps, an unexpected feat. Referring to companies in the sole business of enforcing patents beyond their actual value, trolls are a recent installment in the history of an intellectual property whose ubiquitousness the Latin word PASSIM (“here and there, everywhere”) neatly captures. In the eye of the storm stands the patent bargain: disclosure of information in return for a limited monopoly. This contractual moment makes patents a source of information, the basis of new innovation. Or does it? By posing this simple question, PASSIM’s bold take on the legitimacy of intellectual property in the governance of informational resources follow patents as legal and informational documents during three historical “patent phases,” producing a visionary and theoretically savvy interpretation of intellectual property that stems from its humanities-based and interdisciplinary project design. PASSIM shows a way out of current analytical gridlocks that earmark the understanding of the role of intellectual property in knowledge infrastructures—most notably the enclosure/openness dichotomy—and provides a fresh take on the complexity of informational processes. A key steppingstone in the PI’s career, her own contribution to PASSIM will be a work of synthesis, highlighting major tendencies in the history of patents as scientific information from 1895 to the present. Four complementary empirical studies target specific themes that strengthen PASSIM’s validity and impact: questions of copyrights in patents, scientists’ patenting strategies both historically and today, the relationship between bibliometrics and patentometrics, and the status of the patent as a legal and informational document. Outputs include workshops, articles, monographs, policy papers and documentation of the project’s experiences with interdisciplinary self-reflexivity.

•Context/background of the project;When this project was initiated it was considered a problem that many students had the formal prerequisites to register for a master's programme, but still lacked skills or competences that are important to be successful in the master´s courses. As a result, many students did not get their degree within the allocated time and several dropped out without a degree. Of all students that enter a master´s programme in Europe about two thirds will get their degree. For a university there are many ways to evaluate and improve their results, as measured by government and society. OECD's annual Education at a Glance looks at who participates in education, how much money is spent on education in different countries and results. For educational institutions the four statistical indicators below may be used to evaluate how well their programmes meet the demands of society and students. Enrolment; i.e. to recruit the most suited prospective students. Completion rate; make students successfully complete their studies with a degree. Time-to-degree; make students complete their studies within a specified time period.Retention; encourage the less successful students to re-enrol in a study programme and get a degree rather than drop out.These four points are strongly connected and together they indicate to what extent students are suited and/or prepared for studies they enrol in.The access modules developed in this project give interested students much of the information needed to avoid the frustration and possible cost of a failed attempt to earn a degree, and provide suitable material for those who want to prepare for their selected programme.•Objectives;The primary objective of this strategic partnership was to design an online platform to house free (on- and off-line) access modules to four master's programmes in Europe. The modules are intended to help universities attract suitable students and prepare them by evaluating and improving knowledge and skills that are pertinent in order to successfully study on the master's programmes in question.Each access module provides potential students with a visualization of their skills and knowledge as compared to those identified by lecturers as desirable for the master's programme. If there are any weak spots identified the student are presented with a series of learning interventions designed to develop the required abilities. Users are also presented with an option to enjoy all learning resources. The study material developed in this project had to be licensed as Open Educational Resources (OER) i.e. free to redistribute and use for public education in accordance with the Paris Declaration.•Number and profile of participating organisations;There were four partners in the project; three universities; University of Borås (UB), University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), University of Alcalá (UAH) and a soft-ware developer; Digital Connextions Ltd, (DC). •Description of undertaken main activities;AToM: The Access to Masters platform, a HTML5 System developed by Digital Connextions is accessible to prospective students online. The access modules below can be used online or downloaded and run offline. Instructional video on how to use the platform, as well as information about the project for students and teachers, was developed and published by UHI.Access module for a Masters´ programme in Textile Engineering, (UB).Access module for a Masters´ programme in Education, (UHI). Access module for a Masters´ programme in Leadership and Management, (UHI).Access module for a Masters´ programme in Telecommunication Engineering, (UAH).A multiplier event at each partners university, UB, UHI och UAH•Results and impact attained;The final product of the project is the AToM platform and four modules that allow prospective students to assess their skills and knowledge profile as compared to that desired for study on a master's programme. If needed the student is presented with a series of learning interventions designed to develop the required knowledge and skills. The content of each module spans subject knowledge and academic skills preparing the student for the master's programme and for transition to employment.The study material developed in this project are licensed as Open Educational Resources (OER) i.e. free to redistribute and use for public education.Three multiplier events was organized, one by each university. A poster and a leaflet presenting the project was designed and printed to be available at those events.