Innovation Unseen supported by the Sustainability Lounge & Polartec

Alexa Dehmel is a performance sports clothing & sportswear design expert and functional material advisory with over 20 years experience in the industry apparel business and design agency, Head Judge and Functional Fabric Curator of the TREND Forum since over 15 years for Performance Days/ Munich and Functional Fabric Fair/ Portland & New York, Functional Textiles/ Shanghai. Since 2023 she curates the new INNOVATION AREA and FOOTWEAR Forum. With the podcast: „Designing the Future: Textiles & Transformation Talks…Alexa inquires – powered by Performance Days“, she engages with experts to uncover process optimizations and innovative solutions, propelling the sector towards a truly circular and thriving future. Her guiding principle is to champion future-responsible design, transformation and effective success strategies within the textile and apparel industry.

Ramesh Kesh is Senior Vice President and Business Manager for Government and Defense Business and Polartec Business Units. With over 70 issued patents in U.S. and in other countries, during his tenure at Milliken, Ramesh has and continues to direct and lead development organizations in multiple business units. Ramesh joined Milliken in 1996 as a Senior Development Engineer in the Airbag Business where he supported business growth through major innovations in airbag designs and multiple coating technologies that has been licensed and currently used in three continents.  His inventions are being utilized in over 200 million vehicles globally. He received his M.S. in Chemical Engineering with specialization in Material Science and Artificial Intelligence, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and Polymer Science.