The AITEX Textile Technological Institute is a technological center headquartered in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

dedicated to research in the fields of science and technology that have applications in the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

Details

It is a private

non-profit association A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

, made up of textile and related companies, with the main objective of improving the competitiveness of the sector and offering society textile-based solutions that contribute to improved well-being, health, and quality of life for people. The commonly used name is AITEX as it is the

Spanish language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a world language, gl ...

acronym for "Textile Industry Research Association". It was established in 1985 at the initiative of the

Valencian Valencian can refer to: * Something related to the Valencian Community ( Valencian Country) in Spain * Something related to the city of Valencia * Something related to the province of Valencia in Spain * Something related to the old Kingdom of ...

government, through the Institute of Small and Medium Industry of the Valencian Government (IMPIVA). Its founding President was Ricardo Cardona Salvador, who served until 1992. Rafael Terol Aznar was Honorary "Conseller" from 1992 to 2009. The headquarters are located in

Alcoy Alcoy (; ; officially: / ) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 r ...

, a city in

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

with an industrial and textile tradition, but it also has two Technical Units. One is located in the Valencia Technology Park, and the other in

Ontinyent Ontinyent is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Vall d'Albaida, Valencian Community, Spain. It is situated on the banks of the Clariano River, a tributary of the Xúquer, and on the Xàtiva–Alcoi railway. Ontinyent is near the Sierra d ...

, from where support is offered to each of these industrial areas. On an international level, it also has delegations in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The institute works in various areas of knowledge, including intelligent and functional textiles, textile comfort,

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

applications in textile processes,

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

applied to the development of textile materials, new textile processes, and textile solutions for areas such as health, personal protection, and security. AITEX has published a publication called ''AITEX Review'' since 2000, a four-monthly publication that collects innovations and the technical and scientific news that is applied in the textile sector. In 2005, AITEX created the ''Made in Green'' label, a certification that guarantees that products do not have harmful substances for health and that from its perspective the environment and the universal rights of workers have been respected.

References

{{coord missing, Spain Research institutes in Spain Textiles 1985 establishments in Spain Alcoy, Spain