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INDA Honors Carl Cucuzza and Lynda Kelly with 2025 Lifetime Service Awards Graphic by INDA
17.04.2025

INDA Honors Carl Cucuzza and Lynda Kelly with 2025 Lifetime Service Awards

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, proudly announces Carl Cucuzza and Lynda Kelly as the recipients of the 2025 INDA Lifetime Service Awards. Carl and Lynda are being recognized for their key contributions to the advancement of the nonwovens industry and INDA.

“I am thrilled to recognize Carl and Lynda for their exceptional dedication and impactful contributions,” said Matt O’Sickey, PhD, Director of Education & Technical Affairs at INDA. “Their unwavering commitment and tireless advocacy play vital roles in shaping the future of the nonwovens industry. I am looking forward to seeing and giving them their Awards at Hygienix and IDEA®25.”

 

  • Carl Cucuzza will receive his award during the Hygienix™ Conference on November 18th at 4:30 pm.
  • Lynda Kelly will receive her award during IDEA®25 on April 29th at 4:45 pm.

Here are the Award recipients:

INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, proudly announces Carl Cucuzza and Lynda Kelly as the recipients of the 2025 INDA Lifetime Service Awards. Carl and Lynda are being recognized for their key contributions to the advancement of the nonwovens industry and INDA.

“I am thrilled to recognize Carl and Lynda for their exceptional dedication and impactful contributions,” said Matt O’Sickey, PhD, Director of Education & Technical Affairs at INDA. “Their unwavering commitment and tireless advocacy play vital roles in shaping the future of the nonwovens industry. I am looking forward to seeing and giving them their Awards at Hygienix and IDEA®25.”

 

  • Carl Cucuzza will receive his award during the Hygienix™ Conference on November 18th at 4:30 pm.
  • Lynda Kelly will receive her award during IDEA®25 on April 29th at 4:45 pm.

Here are the Award recipients:

Carl Cucuzza: INDA Lifetime Service Award
“I am deeply honored and thankful to receive this Lifetime Service Award from INDA. It has been a blessing to collaborate with a close-knit community of dedicated professionals who continually innovate in ways that improve lives while protecting the environment. I’m grateful for the recognition and continue to be excited to see steady growth through the entrepreneurial spirit that is a hallmark of this industry.”

Carl Cucuzza, prior to retirement, was President and Managing Partner of Teknoweb North America, a key supplier of converting equipment for wet and dry wipes, facemasks, and similar disposable products. He also partnered with his son in establishing the Hot Melt Supply Company, which provides service and support for adhesive applications in the disposables, product assembly, and packaging industries.

Prior to that, Carl was General Manager of Newco Enterprises, Inc. and Global Sales and Marketing Manager for the Nonwovens Systems Group of Nordson Corporation. In that role, Carl directly managed the North American and European sales efforts to disposables producers and personally coordinated hot melt systems sales and support activities for a major producer’s global baby diaper production expansion through the 1990s.

Carl is a past board member of INDA, Organizing Committee member, Moderator and Presenter for over 35 years at Vision, WOW, Hygienix, and various other domestic and international conferences. He has been recognized by the state of Georgia with the Award for Product Development and Management Excellence and has received seven patents for machinery and processes for the production of disposable products. He has also published numerous technical papers and articles, consulted on disposables projects, and acted as an expert witness.

Born and raised in Bradford, PA, and living in Monroe, GA, he and his wife Toni have been married for 47 years and have four children and four grandchildren,

Lynda Kelly: INDA Lifetime Service Award
“I am truly humbled and honored to receive the INDA Lifetime Service Award. Growing up in this amazing industry has been a remarkable journey, working alongside so many incredible colleagues across the globe to develop and sell unique nonwoven product solutions and technologies. As an industry, we have achieved so much over the decades, and I am proud to have been part of its evolution. It has truly been an incredible experience!

Lynda Kelly served as Senior Vice President, Americas & Business Development for Suominen Corporation until her retirement in 2023, due to health challenges. She dedicated nearly a decade to Suominen, where she led the Care team then transitioned to lead Americas sales team alongside global product and business development professionals. Under her leadership, the company successfully advanced its sales, market presence, and innovative products to achieve optimal profitability.

Lynda began her career at Kendall, which later merged into International Paper/Veratec and eventually became BBA Nonwovens. Throughout her tenure, she managed sales and marketing across various sectors, advancing into leadership roles. Early in her career, she embraced an expatriate assignment in Toronto, Canada, which provided her with early exposure to the rapidly growing spunmelt market.

In addition to her time at Suominen, Lynda brought deep expertise to the nonwovens industry through 11 years at First Quality Nonwovens, where she helped expand their spunmelt nonwovens offerings in the medical market. She also gained valuable insights into consulting during her two years with John Starr.

A devoted contributor to the nonwovens industry, Lynda remains a long-term supporter of INDA initiatives. She played a significant role as a key member of INDA’s AAMI medical disposable standards committee, helping to shape critical industry-wide guidelines. From 2019 to 2022, she served on the INDA Board of Directors, navigating the challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic and advocating for collaboration across the sector. While at Suominen, she championed wellness-focused events like the “Run or Walk with Suominen,” blending industry engagement with health, fun, and community.

Lynda’s passion for the nonwovens industry extended beyond her professional contributions. Known for her enthusiasm, she often turned personal encounters into learning opportunities. For example, she would often examine new nonwoven products in a hospital or doctor’s office to spark inspiration. This curiosity drove her to learn more, initiate meaningful conversations, and implement innovative changes within her own teams.

Above all, Lynda cherishes the relationships she developed throughout her career. From colleagues to friends, she believes the most rewarding part of her journey was the people who enriched it. For Lynda, the true heart of the nonwovens industry has always been the connections and partnerships that make it thrive.

Source:

INDA

Graduate Fashion Foundation x Maxxam Competition, photographed by Nici Eberl - Rosemary Moore Graduate Fashion Foundation x Maxxam Competition, photographed by Nici Eberl - Rosemary Moore
Rosemary Moore
15.04.2025

International fashion design competition with MAXXAM® fabrics

Rosemary Moore, inventor of the original and ground-breaking 4 way stretch and crinkle fabric, together with Graduate Fashion Foundation has announced the shortlisted 3 finalists in an international fashion design competition.

Students from the leading fashion and design universities across the UK and internationally were challenged to design a trend led womenswear S/S 2026 capsule collection utilising the famous MAXXAM® fabrics. Celebrating the fabric’s history the range had to be timeless, multi-purpose and include a minimum of one piece of swimwear.  

Judged by Rosemary and the team at Graduate Fashion Foundation, a shortlist of 3 winners has been announced.

Rosemary Moore, inventor of the original and ground-breaking 4 way stretch and crinkle fabric, together with Graduate Fashion Foundation has announced the shortlisted 3 finalists in an international fashion design competition.

Students from the leading fashion and design universities across the UK and internationally were challenged to design a trend led womenswear S/S 2026 capsule collection utilising the famous MAXXAM® fabrics. Celebrating the fabric’s history the range had to be timeless, multi-purpose and include a minimum of one piece of swimwear.  

Judged by Rosemary and the team at Graduate Fashion Foundation, a shortlist of 3 winners has been announced.

  • Ivo Gomes - Solent University, Fashion Design
  • Ella Brooks-Birkett - Manchester Fashion Institute @ The Manchester Metropolitan University, BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Technology
  • Paballo Mafokate - STADIO School of Fashion, Honours in Fashion

Rosemary said, “It has been incredibly exciting to work on this project with Graduate Fashion Foundation and all the leading universities across the country and abroad. I have been absolutely overwhelmed with the number of entries we received and the passion and talent that the students have demonstrated. It has been really difficult to narrow down more than 40 entries to a shortlist of 10 students, who I was lucky enough to meet in person, and even harder to get to our 3 finalists, Ivo, Ella and Paballo.

All the applicants for the competition displayed a very high standard of creativity and imagination and in the end, we had to look at the finer details of the actual designs and the commerciality for carrying them forward.

Rosemary Moore invented the unique MAXXAM® fabric in the early 1980s which took the fashion world by storm and became renowned for its 4-way stretch, tactile characteristics, and one-size-fits-all seamless clothing used predominantly for adult clothing and swimwear

Ivo displayed a fresh approach using laser cutting concepts and the novelty for reusing the waste in other aspects of the design creation. His laser designs offered versatility when intermixing the separate parts to dress up or down for a week away. Paballo impressed with her collection theme and her creativity as it offered a real sincerity to the origins of her landscape combining the waste and traditional techniques of Artisans in South Africa. Ella gave a fresh youthful approach to the styling of her separates with well-considered use of our textiles to offer the freedom for intermixing from day into night and beach to trekking.

I’m thrilled to say the competition has showcased the best of our future fashion talent and we look forward to sharing the final winner at Graduate Fashion Week!”

The 3 finalists will showcase looks in the Graduate Fashion Week Gala Show and exhibition (13th- 16th June 2025 at the Truman Brewery, Shoreditch) where a final overall winner will be chosen to receive the coveted prize of working directly with Rosemary and her manufacturers on their designs with the chance of one of their pieces going into manufacture.  
Ivo Gomes commented, “Getting to this stage of the competition feels wonderful! To win the competition, I would feel like I had won in life! Regardless of the final result, it will have been a valuable learning experience and I value, learning above everything else.”

Ella Brooks-Birkett commented, “I’m super excited to get to this point in the competition, and I didn't expect it at all. It's such a great experience to come down to London for the live judging. I would be absolutely blown away if I won the competition because this is really out of my comfort zone, and I know to win would really get me started in the fashion industry.”

Paballo Mafokate said, “I'm truly honored to get to this stage of the competition and be recognised for my creativity.  To win a competition from a global fashion platform is not something that is familiar within the African continent, and I believe that it would be a beautiful moment and blessing for me and a jump start for my career in fashion.”

The students design journey can be followed on GFF social channels using the #GFFxMAXXAM.

02.04.2025

Board member Walter Bickel leaves Lenzing

The Lenzing Group, a leading provider of regenerated cellulose fibers for the textile and nonwoven industries, announces personnel changes in the company’s Managing Board. The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG and Dr. Walter Bickel, Chief Transformation Officer of Lenzing AG, have mutually agreed to end the temporary mandate of Mr. Bickel and that Mr. Bickel will step down from his operational activities at the end of March 2025.

Mr. Bickel was appointed to the Managing Board of Lenzing AG as of April 15, 2024 to strengthen the Lenzing Managing Board and to be responsible for the further development and implementation of the performance program. Under his leadership, a significant overachievement of the planned contributions from the performance program could be realized. The basis for future significant improvement steps is established, and the program has been structured in a way that it can now be continued by Lenzing AG seamlessly.

The Lenzing Group, a leading provider of regenerated cellulose fibers for the textile and nonwoven industries, announces personnel changes in the company’s Managing Board. The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG and Dr. Walter Bickel, Chief Transformation Officer of Lenzing AG, have mutually agreed to end the temporary mandate of Mr. Bickel and that Mr. Bickel will step down from his operational activities at the end of March 2025.

Mr. Bickel was appointed to the Managing Board of Lenzing AG as of April 15, 2024 to strengthen the Lenzing Managing Board and to be responsible for the further development and implementation of the performance program. Under his leadership, a significant overachievement of the planned contributions from the performance program could be realized. The basis for future significant improvement steps is established, and the program has been structured in a way that it can now be continued by Lenzing AG seamlessly.

The Lenzing Group’s holistic performance program pursues the overarching goal of significantly increasing long-term resilience to crises and greater agility in order to respond to market changes. The program initiatives are primarily aimed at improving EBITDA and generating free cash flow through increased profitability and sustainable cost excellence. Numerous activities are being undertaken to strengthen sales, such as acquiring new customers for the most important fiber types and expanding into new markets, which are already having a positive impact on sales. In addition, the Managing Board expects significant cost savings, of which more than EUR 130 m could already be realized in 2024.

In addition to the positive effects in the 2024 financial year on revenue development (+5.7 % increase in revenue compared to 2023) and earnings development (+30.4 % increase in EBITDA compared to 2023), the performance program also improved free cash flow to EUR 167.0 mn (compared to minus EUR 122.8 mn in 2023). Lenzing AG will continue to consistently implement the ongoing performance program with the aim of achieving annualized cost savings of over EUR 180 mn from the 2025 financial year onwards.

Source:

Lenzing AG

Christoph Wöss Foto EREMA
Christoph Wöss
02.04.2025

EREMA: New Global Sales Director

The Austrian specialist in plastics recycling systems and components, EREMA, has appointed a long-time employee as Global Sales Director: Christoph Wöss, previously Business Development Manager for the Bottle division, will take over the newly created position within the EREMA management team on April 1, 2025.

Christoph Wöss has been part of the EREMA Group for 24 years and possesses in-depth market knowledge. With his extensive experience, he is well-versed in the international markets and the specific requirements of the plastic recycling industry. In his new role, he will manage EREMA’s global sales activities and drive the company’s strategic development in the global market. In this context, Christoph Wöss will lead the international sales team and work closely with EREMA's global subsidiaries to strengthen the company's market presence.

The Austrian specialist in plastics recycling systems and components, EREMA, has appointed a long-time employee as Global Sales Director: Christoph Wöss, previously Business Development Manager for the Bottle division, will take over the newly created position within the EREMA management team on April 1, 2025.

Christoph Wöss has been part of the EREMA Group for 24 years and possesses in-depth market knowledge. With his extensive experience, he is well-versed in the international markets and the specific requirements of the plastic recycling industry. In his new role, he will manage EREMA’s global sales activities and drive the company’s strategic development in the global market. In this context, Christoph Wöss will lead the international sales team and work closely with EREMA's global subsidiaries to strengthen the company's market presence.

Source:

EREMA