Dr Richard Kennon

Richard Kennon graduated with an Honours degree in Applied Physics in 1974, having worked at Harwell, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. and The Royal Radar Establishment. He worked on the early generations of microprocessors, building advanced manufacturing machines, test equipment and research apparatus. He obtained a Masters degree in Electronics and a PhD in Textiles from UMIST. He was appointed to the lecturing staff of the Department of Textiles in 1987, and built up the Clothing Engineering facility in the department. He is currently Course Director for Clothing Technology and Fashion Management, Textile Science & Technology, and for Textile Technology & Management.

His main interests are in process automation, machine development and in Clothing Engineering. Research projects encompass the design of high-performance garments, smart textiles in clothing, sewing thread consumption, computerised dye-process control, the performance properties of textiles, pressing control, and electro-rheological fluids. Recent research collaborations involve both UK and European Universities and companies.

• the design and fit of high-performance garments
• smart textiles in clothing
• estimation of thread consumption in commercial sewing
• objective sewability assessment
• performance assessment of sports footwear
• supply chain strategies for fashion sourcing
• the clothing industry in Iraq
• measurement of fabric lustre
• computer-controlled garment pressing
• development of kier process control
• performance of tennis racquet strings

• Sleeve Design in High Performance Clothing; Autex Conference Proceedings, 27th June 2003 pp 513 - 518; Liu, C. & Kennon, W.R.
• Comparison of English and Chinese Clothing Pattern Systems, Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, May 2003, 7 No.1, 49-61, Chi Liu and W.R. Kennon.
• The Dynamic Performance of Tennis Racquet Strings; Autex Conference Proceedings, June 2001; Kennon, W.R. & Wilding, M.A.
• A Novel Positive Yarn-feed System for Flat-bed Knitting Machines; J. Text. Inst. Vol. 91, Part 1, No. 3, 2000, pp140 - 150. Kennon, W.R., Dias, T. & Xie, P.
• Cost-Effective Computerisation for European Small Tailoring Firms; Management Case-studies journal Vol. 5, Nos. 1& 2, Winter, 2000; Kennon, W.R. & McLoughlin, J.
• The Effect of Feed Retardation on Lockstitch Sewing; J. Text. Inst. Vol. 91, Part 1, No. 4, 2000, pp 509 - 522; Kennon, W.R. & Hayes, S.G.