Repository: UIHistories Project: SWE - Proceedings of the First International Conference of Women Engineers and Scientists [PAGE 86]

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natural fiber in spite of the appearance of new,fibers. In the second place, the engineers and scientists have to develop new man-made fibers and industrialize the methods of production in order to meet the demands of the increasing population. The man-made fiber is the one on which we can anchor our hope, for it is not affected by the weather, it does not require large areas of land, it can be adjusted in production, and so on. However, the development of man-made fiber depends almost entirely upon developed countries which have plentiful and economical power, while the development of man-made fiber in the under-developed countries is so poor that they will suffer a shortage of clothing in the near future, in addition to their low economical power. Some countries are suffering from an unstable supply of raw fibers, and in these countries, we must identify even the raw materials which are scattered about their countries which will produce the fibers. We can say the problems are these: (1) how to develop new fibers from available raw materials, and (2) how to gether the interested engineers and scientists. We propose the establishment of an international research center where we can develop new textile fibers which are specific to some areas and then the new methods to industrialize this fiber. Next, this center may have a branch for each country, and may be supported by supplying the research equipment and the research engineers and scientists. . This proposal would ensure the development of new fibers and new methods of production. Next, in the developed countries, engineers and scientists would concentrate on the study of the improvement of fiber quality and the development of suitable fibers for various purposes. On the other hand, in the under developed countries, engineers and scientists have to keep up with the advance of knowledge which has already been achieved in the developed countries and to find possible new fiber sources which are locally plentiful. Furthermore, when the underdeveloped countries suffer from a lack of supply of raw materials for producing fibers, engineers and scientists must be aware of the local fiber which is chiefly consumed in those countries and try to discover ways of mixing the existing materials in order to overcome the crisis. Particularly to women engineers and scientists, processing of clothing is one of the stimulating fields because it is a natural interest of women.

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