August 24, 2006 — CARY, N.C. – The growing and constantly changing business of nonwoven and needlepunch fabrics will be the focus of Needlepunch 2006, a unique three-day conference sponsored by INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, October 17-19 in Charlotte, N.C.

Technical developments within the needlepunch business, as well as new products and marketing programs, will be covered during the one-of-a-kind event. Speakers will also focus on end use markets ranging from automotives, filtration, home furnishings, military, security and wipes.

Among the featured sessions will be presentations from current and future executives at Ford Motor Co. and Nissan, a presentation from the U.S. Army Natick Solider Center and an important look at new flammability standards from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Networking will be an important component of Needlepunch 2006 as well, with all of the major companies in the needlepunch supply chain expected to attend. Among the highlights: Foster Needle Cheddarhead 2006 on Tuesday, October 17 celebrating the company’s 50 th anniversary, and the Groz-Beckert cocktail reception the following evening.

Among the sessions planned for Needlepunch 2006:

• Today’s Needlepunch Process Technology: A Tutorial, moderated by Klaus Maitre, of Dilo Incorporated.
• Market Trends, moderated by Mike Pate, Foster Needle Company, Inc. with presentations by Alasdair Carmichael, PCI Fibres and INDA President Rory Holmes.
• Competitive Technology, moderated by John Gearhart of Nonwoven Textile Solutions, LLC and featuring presentations by Stuart Smith, Jacob Holm Industries GmbH and Chris Shields, Finetex Technology, Inc.
• Fibers, moderated by Bill Neely, Groz-Beckert USA, Inc. with presentations from Jon Hurd, Wellman, Inc.; Sam Cawa, NatureWorks LLC; Youssef Fakhreddine, GE Advanced Materials, with a special presentation by INDA’s Jessica Franken.
• Filtration, moderated by Mike Konesky of Southern Felt Company, Inc., with presentations from Dr. Kalpana Patel, Environmental Health Center; Robert Burkhead, Blue Heaven Technologies; James Griffin, Donaldson Membranes; Kevin Lynch, Filtration Group, Inc. and Len Torobin, Nanofiber Technology, Inc.
• Military Applications, moderator by Charles Brock, INVISTA with papers from Steve Szczesuil, U.S. Army Natick Solider Center; Scott Dorney, North Carolina Military Business Center and Howard Thomas, Auburn University.
• Home Furnishings, which will discuss recent government flammability standards impacting needlepunch fabrics. Moderated by Tom Taylor, Western Nonwovens, Inc. with presentations from J. Thomas Chapin, UL Labs; Mike Murray, Sealy; Allyson Tenney, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Patricia Martin, International Sleep Products Association.
• Geotextiles, moderated by Al Ferguson, N. Schlumberger (USA) Inc. with presentation by Mark Marienfeld, Propex Fabrics and Peter Stevenson, International Geosynthetic Society.
• Automotives, moderated by Steve Brown, Texel Inc., with presentations from Andy Acho, formerly with Ford; Jeff VanBuskirk, Rieter Automotive North America; Dennis Beard, Beard Associates and a representative from Nissan.
• High-Performance Wipes, moderated by Chris Peart of Ahlstrom Corporation with presentations by Torsten Brieger, Herrmann Ultrasonics, Inc.; Sam Naggiar, Cognis and a representative from Lenzing Fibers Inc.

The registration fee for INDA members is $625 ($750 after September 15) and $875 for non-members ($1050 after September 15).

For more information: http://www.inda.org/events/needlepunch/index.html.