Colombian students were rewarded in New York for creating a new thread | L & # 39; UNIVERSAL

The Caleños Manuel Ortiz and Moisés Hernández, as well as the Bogotanos Iván Caballero and Ana Laura Andrade won the first place of the "Free Animal Wool Prize" of the American contest Biodesign Challenge, sponsored by the Peta Foundation and the designer Stella McCartney. jointly with investment firm Stray Dog Capital

The competition was aimed at having students from different parts of the world, after research, design a sustainable plant fiber material that would replace wool.

Students of the Universidad de los Andes They were recognized in New York for having designed a physical prototype called "Woocoa", based on plant fibers such as coconut and hemp. In addition, for incorporating a strong social factor as the foundation of the project.

Colombians were finalists with the New York Fashion Institute of Technology, and the Maryland Institute College of Arts, and received their first place award on the 22nd. Last June at the Museum of Modern Art in New York

The thread beyond embroidery

n Cundinamarca is located in the municipality of Fúquene. Its place name, Muisca Fo-Qyuny, means "bed of the god Fo". The Fo god of the Muisca Indians, better known as Nencatacoa, is the protector of the weavers.

Inspired by this legend, the young researchers, under the direction of the teacher Cale Alba Luz Gallo and the biologist Barranquilla Giovanna Danies Turano, gave origin to Woocoa: a vegetable fiber yarn that can revolutionize 39, textile industry.

After a research process in search of plant fibers with the same properties of wool, students found the Colombian Caribbean coconut and hemp. To make the wires, the researchers used an enzymatic process to degrade the rough parts of the fibers and nanostructure them to make them more flexible. The result they got was a strong and softer wire with properties similar to those of sheep's wool.

Throughout the survey, students also discovered that the use of plant fibers such as coconut and hemp have a positive social impact in Colombia: "In spite Being an agricultural waste, coconut fiber is a natural thermal insulator, and we have discovered that by using it and improving it, communities like Moñitos, in Córdoba, where positioning can benefit from sustainable social enterprises such as the Caribbean CocoTech society, generate jobs and positive impacts on vulnerable populations and the environment, by recycling biombad coconut husks to make them coconut filaments, manufacture of panels and felts for industrial and agricultural use ", explains Manuel Ortiz, one of Cali's students.

Also, the research team's study insists that hemp could be considered in the implementation of the Comprehensive National Program for the Replacement of Illegal Crops (PNIS), given that Hemp plant fibers have always been used by Aboriginal communities to make fabrics. . This would allow hemp cultivation to become a future source of employment for the textile sector and would greatly contribute to the substitution of illicit crops and the construction of peace in the regions.

Giovanna Danies, biologist, microbiologist and doctor of phytopathology, he states that "the work and research of the Woocoa project have been rigorous, in addition, it has a relevant and cyclical social factor in a post-conflict scenario in Colombia, and in the long run, wire improvement could revolutionize the textile industry ". Similarly, Danies insists that initiatives like this one are important because they allow students such as Design students to speak correctly in a language of a different discipline such as biology and to generate opportunities for develop sustainable projects.

the designer and teacher in charge of the management of the team, Luz Alba Gallo, states that "these initiatives are important before because we have entered the era of the circular economy and that the fashion industry speaks a lot, since all waste and production in this sector can be more environmentally friendly. "

This, students ensure that the industry Colombian textile is positive in terms of sustainability and the environment: "Colombia has great potential, we do not imagine the wealth that the country has, even, throughout the investigation, we have discovered that there are currently 114 registered fibers that can be used for crafting. "

After receiving the" No-Animal Wool Prize "& # 39; and having had the opportunity to establish contacts with different organizations for a possible financing of the project Woocoa, the challenge for young researchers are now perfecting the thread to achieve the best possible result in the medium term, and thus put implement the project in the community of hemp and coconut growers across the country.