The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) has appointed Mehmet Dasdemir, Ph.D., to the position of director of product development, succeeding Pierre Grondin who retired from NWI earlier this year after 30 years of service to the nonwovens industry.

Dasdemir has more than 15 years of experience with polymers, fibers, and nonwovens and has strong ties to North Carolina State University and NWI. He received his Ph.D. in Fiber and Polymer Science from NC State in 2011, and during his doctoral studies, he participated in NWI’s industry-identified fundamental research program.

He has also served as a Professor at Gaziantep University in Turkey, where he conducted, published, and presented research studies related to polymers, fibers, nonwovens, composites and nanotechnology and has worked as a consultant and R&D coordinator at several fiber, filament and nonwoven production companies in Turkey. In addition, he has designed, prepared, and managed several industrial and academic research, product, and application development projects.  

As NWI’s Director of Product Development, Dr. Dasdemir will be focused on working with the Institute’s industry partners to develop new nonwoven products and applications. This work will include scale-up using NWI’s extensive pilot facilities – an area where NWI brings high value to the nonwoven industry through the integration of in-house expertise and extensive production and testing capabilities.