While the outcome of a contest or an election might not be to your liking, at least you can take comfort in the fact that  you participated. That said, this month Nonwovens Industry is inviting nonwovens professionals across the spectrum to participate in the third edition of the IDEA Achievement Awards.

Originally established in conjunction with the 2001 IDEA  Show, this awards competition recognizes achievement in five separate categories—Short-Life End Product, Long-Life End Product, Roll Goods, Raw Materials and Machinery and Equipment. A special advisory committee has selected three finalists in each category based on hundreds of nominations. A listing of these finalists is now available  at nitesh_non.rodpub.com, where you can also vote on your favorite in each category. The winners will be announced during the keynote ceremony of IDEA 2007 in Miami Beach.

A look at the finalists shows an impressive rate of innovation during the past three years with products ranging from disposable diapers to wipes to filters to a dust mite-killing fiber. We think the finalists are a good representation of the nonwovens industry’s growth and evolution during the past three years, since the last IDEA show.

What has kept the nonwovens industry healthy during the past decades has been just this level of innovation. It is this mindset that has allowed nonwoven materials to target new end use categories nearly daily and grow at a rate far beyond most GDPs. And, this innovation has been able to continue despite a number of problems that have faced the industry in recent years such as higher raw material costs, overcapacity, increased competition and  maturity in many key markets.

I think everyone would like to see this level of innovation continue during the next three years, so do yourself, and your industry, a favor: log on to nitesh_non.rodpub.com and recognize the hard work of your colleagues. Vote for the  next crop of IDEA Achievement Award winners today.

Karen Bitz McIntyre
Editor
[email protected]