Course focus

This new one-year Masters degree has been developed to meet the industry’s demand for a postgraduate course within the field of fashion knitwear design and product innovation in knitted technical textiles.  Aimed at graduates and professionals from both design and technology backgrounds, the course integrates creative and technical perspectives within the context of advanced fibre materials and computerised flat-bed knitting technology.

Students will develop creative and commercial skills, providing the global fashion and technical textiles industries with well-qualified, technically competent product and fashion designers.

The knitting technology revolution

There are very few knitwear designers who have a thorough knowledge of advanced flat-bed knitting technology, and those with knit CAD/CAM programming skills are even rarer.  In order for the industry to fully exploit new technology there needs to be a pool of design talent which has both creative flair and a technological viewpoint. 

The gulf between technician and designer within the industry has increased as the pace of technological progress in computerised flat-bed knitting has quickened.  Technicians struggle to understand the designer’s brief, and designers struggle to understand the possibilities and potential of the technology.

This Masters course will give students the core IT, advanced knitting technology and design skills to bridge this gap.  By providing students with a unique combination of creative design skills and CAD/CAM and technological skills, graduates will be equipped with a high level of technical knowledge and expertise.

MA or MSc

Students on this course have the option to select a project in either fashion knitwear design (MA) or knitted technical textiles (MSc).  The MA route is suitable projects where students will create advanced knitted products with a design application.  The MSc route is for those whose focus is on medical textiles, smart textiles and eTextiles, where the outcome will be written dissertations detailing scientific analysis and evaluation.

Facilities

The School of Art & Design has excellent resources which include:

• 5, 7, 10, 14 and 15 gauge computerised flat-bed knitting machines from Shima Seiki and Stoll
• 5 Shima Seiki SDS1 KnitCAD systems
• 5 M1plus Knit Design systems from Stoll
• A complete range of knitwear making up equipment
• A range of modern testing equipment to measure mechanical properties and electrical characteristics of textile materials,
• An impedance tube to determine noise absorbency in textile materials;
• Skin contact pressure measurement systems;
• A digital microscope with image processing software
• IT and CAD facilities within the School to support portfolio development work and analysis of experimental data

Find out more at www.ntu.ac.uk/matikd