The 46th Dornbirn Man-Made Fibers Congress (Dornbirn MFC): Communicating the Textile Future, organized by the Austrian Man-made Fibers Institute, will take place in Dornbirn, Austria, Sept. 19-21, 2007, directly following the International Exhibition of Textile Machinery (ITMA) 2007, scheduled for Sept. 13-20 in Munich, Germany. According to congress organizers, preliminary registration figures indicate the event will draw a record number of participants, including overseas delegations that also will attend ITMA.

The conference program includes a series of in-depth lectures by 116 industry and research experts who will present the newest man-made-fiber trends and developments. The lecturers represent 16 different countries on three continents, including 50 percent from Germany, Switzerland and Austria; 30 percent from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada; and 20 percent from 10 other countries.

Six plenary lectures will be presented on the first day of the congress. The Brussels-based International Rayon and Synthetic Fibers Committee will offer an overview of the challenges of globalization. Development of the fiber industry in China will be the topic of a presentation by the Beijing-based China Chemical Fibers Association. The Indonesian Synthetic Fibers Association, Djakarta, Indonesia, will provide a look at the current status of the man-made fiber industry in Eastern Asia.

A series of 108 individual lectures will cover such topics as new developments in fibers, new functionalities through spin-finishes and surface modifications, transportation fibers and textiles, textile floor coverings, protective textiles, European Union/United States fiber-driven research projects and funding, and the impact of ITMA on fiber technology.

July/August 2007