Prof. John Xin receives China National Science and Technology Progress Award

Prof. John Xin, Chair Professor of ITC, and his research team were the Second Prize recipients of the China National Science and Technology Progress Award 2019 for their work entitled "Key Technologies and Industrialization of Digital Printed Colours on Textiles" (紡織面料顏色數字化關鍵技術及產業化). The work is a collaborative effort between PolyU, Luthai Textile Co., Ltd., Donghua University and Zhejiang University. Prof. Xin is the primary contributor among the collaborators of the awarded work. One of the fundamental technologies that led to this recognition is an imaging color measurement (ICM) system developed by Prof. Xin and his team at ITC and supported by the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textile and Apparel(HKRITA).

Prof. Xin (middle) and his team working on the ICM system.

The award demonstrates the significance of the ICM system, which is based on software and hardware that measure colour with disruptive digital imaging technology, to the fashion and textile industries, as well as many other different industries in which accurate colour measurements and colour quality control are important.

Using the right colours is always a challenging task for textile and garment manufacturers. The ICM system developed by Prof Xin and his team has ultra-high precision and capable of accurately measuring the color of each pixel on textile fabric, which can be yarn dyed fabric, printed fabric, or even a piece of lace with multiple colours and textures. The complexity of these different colours cannot be measured with conventional colour measurement instruments. The digital ICM system has the ability to measure different complex colours with just one click of a mouse without the need for contact with the measured object. This is indeed a significant advancement in colour measurement and colour quality control. The highly accurate ICM system effectively eliminates conflict between textile and garment producers and buyers in terms of colour consistency, reduces the product development lead time, and lowers cost as there are fewer colour samples needed and sample delivery from producers to buyers can be eliminated. The ICM system is also a very useful tool for designing, developing and visualizing coloured products,  all of which can provide a wide range of benefits not only to the textile and garment industries, but also to many other industries that offer coloured products.