Loughborough University is a top-ten rated university in England for research intensity (REF2014) and an outstanding 66% of the work of Loughborough’s academic staff who were eligible to be submitted to the REF was judged as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’, compared to a national average figure of 43%. In choosing Loughborough for your research, you’ll work alongside academics who are leaders in their field. You will benefit from comprehensive support and guidance from our Doctoral College, including tailored careers advice, to help you succeed in your research and future career. Finishing processes represent the majority of the inherent energy cost in the production of textile products. Existing techniques are wasteful in their use of energy, water and chemicals to manufacture functionalised coatings. The use of laser based processes would enable precise and customised manufacture of technical textiles on both 2D and 3D substrates. There would be significant commercial advantages of a process that could add functionalised coatings to assembled products in only specific desired locations. A detailed programme of work is now required to develop and assess the engineering solutions. This project aims to develop a detailed understanding of the laser-material interactions and their exact resource consumption to explore and exploit the potential commercial benefits of laser processing of textiles. This will require systematic experimentation and analysis of the laser process and development of new techniques. Work will include the use and development of new high-power laser materials processing and 3D textile handling equipment. Evaluating the long term and commercial performance of textiles treated by this process would also be essential to demonstrate viability to industry.