Design for Comfort presents recent work carried out by the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA) and Curtin University of Technology. DAFWA’s Wool Desk operates an active wool fibre and fabric research and development program through a range of unique resources and capabilities.  Curtin University’s Faculty of Built Environment, Art and Design (BEAD) have a research base and product design knowledge in the areas of textiles, apparel, interior design and furniture.

Associate Professor John Stanton is a Senior Researcher, with the Wool Desk at the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA).  Dr Stanton leads the wool and garment comfort research currently being carried out by the DAFWA and has 25 years experience in wool fibre technology. He has written and been published extensively on fibre quality, processing technologies, benchmarking consumer preferences and testing for comfort.
Email: jstanton@agric.wa.gov.au

Anne Farren is a Lecturer in the Department of Design and is Course Coordinator of Fashion and Textile Design at Curtin University of Technology.  She has been responsible for the management of the designer involvement in the Design for Comfort project and is actively involved in research related to the relationship between textiles, garment, technology and the body and fashion design in Western Australia.
Email: a.farren@curtin.edu.au

Emma Kopke is a Research Scientist with the Wool Desk at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia. Emma is a Wool Science graduate from the University of Western Australia. She has trained in Japan on the Shima Seiki knitting system and leads the research program which looks at the challenge of designing wool garments for hot climates.
Email: ekopke@agric.wa.gov.au

Melanie Dowling is a Research Scientist with the Wool Desk at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia. Melanie specializes in the appraisal of fabrics and the linking of these results to the reverse engineering process. She also works with the wool producers in selecting the fiber for these specialist applications.
Email: mdowling@agric.wa.gov.au

Sara Pieruzzini is a Market Development Officer with the Wool Desk at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia. Sara graduated from the University of Florence with a degree in Business and Economics (major in marketing). She currently manages the relationships between Australia and Italy in fine-ends research.
Email: spieruzzine@agric.wa.gov.au

Suzette Worden is Professor of Design at Curtin University of Technology. She has been involved in the research and teaching of design history and since 1995 has worked on various research projects that involve using computer technologies in art and design education. Since working at Curtin University from 2002 she has developed research projects that look at the significance and influence of materials within the design process.
Email: s.worden@curtin.edu.au

Sarah Rankin is a Research Scientist with the Wool Desk at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia. Sarah graduated from the University of Western Australia with a B.Sc. in Human Movement and Exercise Science majoring in Exercise Physiology, and has since completed her MSc in 1996 and PhD in 2004.  Sarah’s skills in exercise physiology and human testing will assist the fabric and garment appraisal program. 
Email: srankin@agric.wa.gov.au

John Beilby is a Senior Research Technician with the Wool Desk. He is responsible for the laboratory testing of the fabrics conducted in the wool lab at DAFWA and provides the reverse engineering results and supports the knitting program.

Sooyung Yang is a textile designer who has over ten years experience of working as a textile designer in Korea and is currently developing a PhD project on the role of the 'machine interpreter' for whole garment knitting systems.