Connie Huffa

About Connie Huffa

Hi, I’m Co-Founder at Fabdesigns as well as an accomplished Product Development Executive with extensive experience in innovating customer-centric Products through mindful Design, careful sourcing, testing, validation, and scalability of processes. My expertise is a unique blend of product design skills, textile engineering, and knowledge of all aspects of business operations, including Finance, Accounting, Legal, Manufacturing, Materials Management, Engineering, Quality, etc. that translates concepts into a balance of creativity, manufacturing capabilities, and revenue. My forte is leading product and materials strategy for Fortune 100 company teams, ensuring performance and aesthetics, using key data insights and technology to distill trends, optimize core technologies, and exceed sustainability targets. My key role is inspiring, empowering, and incubating innovation; My passion is building team skills, road maps, product pipelines, brand identity/DNA & evolution in visual and tactile language, to execute company vision and hit financial targets. At Fabdesigns, we are known for creating entire markets in footwear, fashion, sportswear, medical, automotive, industrial fabrics, smart textiles, and much more. https://fabdesigns.com/contact-us We do the hard stuff blending art and technology into highly advanced materials and engineering from the fiber up to translate ideas into a clear vision and scale with nearly zero waste. We love soft stuff like cashmere as well as performance: carbon fiber, Kevlar, UHMWPE, metals, basalt, auxetics, ceramics, you name it. We are known internationally for creating Nike Flyknit footwear from 2008 to 2011 based on our pre-existing 3D & 4D technology. I hold a BSc in textiles from PCT & S / Jefferson University; taught in the masters of textile, mentor Ph.D. candidates around the world in technical textiles, and have a track record of successful first-to-market products in multiple markets. I designed and developed couture knitwear, outdoor products that allow the brave to beat the elements, ISO 13485 medical devices, backpacks that withstand ocean submersion, footwear for top athletes, medical devices, yoga wear, aerospace composites, and automotive products, all of which generate billions of dollars in revenue. Volunteer work: I am a founding member of IPC standards in smart textiles and have been chair of several committees, donating hundreds of hours to IPC, and speaking as an invited expert at MAKE IT IN LA, IFAI, Techtextile NA, TTI Vanguard, and other organizations. Got a question? I am happy to help.

Experience

1. Co-founder, Innovation, Materials, and Product Guru

   Fabdesigns, Inc

   Apr 2013 — Present · Los Angeles, CA, US

   Utilizing 3D knitting as additive manufacturing, Fabdesigns empowers brands to revolutionize industries through dynamic collaborations. Scaling robotized computerized knitting to save up to 65% of waste, together we build sustainable, multifunctional products that change the world. Mission: With less than 14% of textiles recycled, more than 15 million tons of used textile waste enter landfills in the US each year. With the ability to make so many millions of things comes the equally essential responsibility of making them environmentally and socially responsibly. Building end to end pipelines of infrastructure from concept through production, we build customized hyper-efficient additive manufacturing platforms. By engineering raw materials from the polymer up, we eliminate the warehousing of perishable rolls of fashion fabric and instead precisely engineer strands of material and fabric variations solely where they are needed for creating load, comfort, strength, or performance mapped features with no cutting, minimal sewing, and nearly zero waste. Fabdesigns\' Vision: The future of manufacturing is reducing material waste, closing the recycling loop, and accurately meeting consumer preferences by making just what is needed through digital control of materials, processes, and the manufacturing environment. Digitally building fabric at the same time as building the product, raw material strands can be combined in an exponential number of product configurations in an agile production environment with no excess inventory- Saves 20% to 80% of post-production waste - Reduces assembly time of finished product - Reduces production overruns and deadstock - Hyperefficient production, increased production capacity, and reduced carbon footprint- Safer, less repetitive jobs; advancement of skill sets and experience Core Values: Service Excellence Stewardship of The Planet Positive Relationships Passion for Innovation Integrity Inclusion and engagement Ownership

Education

• Philadelphia University

  Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.), Textile Sciences and Engineering

  1982 — 1986

• Philadelphia University

  BSc, Textile Design

  1982 — 1986