Diffusion of Knowledge and Technologies___________________________

1. Transferred the following PTRI technologies to a private company --- the Soumak Collections, through technology business incubation (TBI) cum training scheme:

x Natural dyes extraction from mahogany, sibukao, yellow ginger, annatto and talisay plant sources and their crude extract application on cotton materials;

x Natural indigo dye powder application for cotton fabrics; and

x Yellow ginger, indigo and mahogany dye powder application for printing of cotton fabrics

2. Developed, packaged and disseminated information, education and communication (IEC) materials composed of the PTRI 2005 annual report, Samay Bulletin, quality testing flyer called Employees Uniform Quality Assessment Program (EUQAP), poster exhibits and articles on PTRI activities and accomplishments. There were 4,318 copies of these IEC materials spread to the public through the print, radio and TV media as well as the cyberspace.

3. Presented the upgraded natural dye technologies at the Technology Investment Forum in the 2006 S&T Fair. The forum raised the level of consciousness and interest of weavers and garment manufacturers on natural dyes that eventually prompted Kingsmen Corp.― a manufacturer of barong tagalog, to venture into the business of coloring its collection of embroidered piña barong with natural dyes.

 

Generation of New Knowledge and Technologies____________________

1. Established the technologies of producing the elusive natural dye based green color utilizing plant dye sources.

2. Developed a more cost effective and simplified pretreatment processes for abaca, banana and pineapple fibers. These were done through modification of the existing degumming technology for each fiber. The pretreatment costs were reduced by 20-30% for pineapple, 35-45% for banana and 20-50% for abaca.

3. Completed three contract researches on natural dyes with Soumak Collections, and another one, on the technology for production of textile yarns with ArtVivant, Inc. The resulting products from these researches are now commercially available in the foreign and local markets.

 

Development of S&T Human Resources____________________________

1. Conducted 87 technology-based training courses through seminars/workshops, technology fora, demonstrations, on-the-job training, and industry skills education participated in by 832 participants. These participants came from the academe, the MSME industry particularly the textiles and garments and the Gifts, Toys and Houseware sectors and other related private companies, which undertake testing services.

2. The skills developed by workers from 87 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), cooperatives, and associations especially on weaving and dyeing technologies assisted them in meeting the current trends and demands in various product colors and designs.

 

Provision of Quality S&T Services_________________________________

1. Provided 6,041 physical and chemical tests on 2,758 samples for 1,086 clients for quality evaluation purposes to meet the requirements of the foreign and domestic markets. Forty percent of these clients constitute the garment and textile manufacturers, majority of which belong to the MSMEs category.

2. Secured funding from the Philippine Council for Industry and Energy Research and Development (PCIERD) in the amount of PhP4.96 million for the acquisition of testing machines to expand and strengthen PTRI’s testing capability. This is in connection with the project “Establishment and Maintenance of ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation of RDIs and DOST Regional Offices”.

3. Maintained the international institutional linkages with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC).

4. Increased the PTRI library collections with the acquisition of 1,246 additional print and non-print materials. Bibliographic content build-up of the in-house “PTRILIB” and “artic” databases was continually undertaken through addition of 2,654 books and journal articles.