School of Textiles Holds the 828th Sunshine Forum: Focusing on Research of Embroidered Textile Pressure Sensors for Smart Wearables
At 15:30 on the afternoon of June 5, 2025, the 828th Session of the Sunshine Forum of Wuhan Textile University was successfully held in Conference Room 8H302.
Hosted by Dean Jiang Huiyu of the School of Textiles, the forum attracted a large number of teachers and students from the school, who gathered to focus on the cutting-edge theme of "Large-scale Embroidered Textile Pressure Sensors for Smart Wearables".
At the beginning of the event, Dean Jiang Huiyu solemnly introduced the keynote speaker, Professor Yin Rong, to the teachers and students present. Professor Yin Rong is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science at the Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, USA. He has achieved remarkable results in the field of advanced textiles and intelligent manufacturing, and is an outstanding young scholar. His research focuses on the innovation of textile systems; he has undertaken 12 major scientific research projects funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense (DoD), etc. Over the past five years, he has published more than 40 papers in top journals such as Advanced Functional Materials, and has won honors including the NSF Early Career Award, boasting a rich and impressive academic resume.
During the forum, Professor Yin Rong delivered a presentation centered on the theme of "Large-scale Embroidered Textile Pressure Sensors for Smart Wearables". He explained that his team has developed a programmable textile-based pressure sensing platform using machine embroidery technology, providing a low-cost and large-scale production solution for wearable devices. Among them, the single-layer piezoresistive sensor features high sensitivity (ΔR/R0=1.46×10⁴), fast response (35ms), and excellent durability (>5000 cycles), making it suitable for biomechanical monitoring; the double-layer 3×3 sensor array, combined with a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), achieves a recognition accuracy of 98.5% in digital gesture recognition tasks. This technological breakthrough addresses key challenges of wearable devices, balancing textile breathability, flexibility, and seamless integration, while enabling customization of sensitivity and layout. It holds significant application value in fields such as health monitoring and human-computer interaction, opening up new paths for the research and development of intelligent textiles.
After the presentation, Professor Yin Rong engaged in active interactions with the teachers and students on site, patiently answering questions regarding technical details and application expansion. The teachers and students all expressed that the forum exposed them to cutting-edge achievements in the interdisciplinary field of textiles and smart wearables, broadened their academic horizons, and provided great inspiration for professional learning and scientific research exploration.
This Sunshine Forum was hosted by the College of Textile Science and Engineering, the National Key Laboratory of Textile New Materials and Advanced Processing Technology, and the Key Laboratory of Yarn and Functionalization of Textile Industry. It built a platform for teachers and students in the textile field to communicate with international cutting-edge scholars, helping the college deepen exploration in the research direction of intelligent textile materials and promoting disciplinary innovation and development.
Personal Profile
Professor Yin Rong is an outstanding young scholar in the field of advanced textiles and intelligent manufacturing, currently serving as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science at the Wilson College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, USA. His research focuses on textile system innovation, covering cutting-edge directions such as textile product performance modeling and intelligent flexible actuators. As PI/Co-PI, he has presided over 12 major scientific research projects funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), etc., including landmark projects such as the NSF North Carolina Textile Innovation Engine. Over the past five years, he has published more than 40 papers in top journals such as Advanced Functional Materials (IF 18.5) and Advanced Science (IF 14.3). In addition, Professor Yin serves as a Young Editorial Board Member of Advanced Fiber Materials (IF 17.2), Guest Editor of Actuators and Frontiers in Chemistry, and holds 4 authorized invention patents in China and the United States. He has won honors including the NSF Early Career Award (2025), the Goodnight Early Innovator Award (2024), the Barbara S. Stowe Distinguished Faculty Award (2022), and was selected as a Scholar in the Research and Development Talent Pool of the Innovation and Technology Commission of Hong Kong (2019).
