After Sara Rosberg lost her mother during the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to turn her pain into purpose. She started Sense-Tex, a yarn-thread technology, which adds sensors to fabric to provide real-time health metrics to a mobile device. To bring her idea to life, Rosberg collaborated with space engineer Marcelo Boldt in 2021, and production and supply chain Manager Tahir Haytoglu in 2022. Together, they built a product that combines safety, fashion, and sustainability.
Sense-Tex: More Than Fabric and Fashion
Made from a five-fiber yarn-thread mixture, Rosberg says the company’s core product includes two conductors, silver and zinc, and three natural fibers, ramie, soybean, and Seacell algae, making it a health-enhancing conductive fabric that’s produced without adding chemicals. “This smart textile acts as a shield against harmful elements,” she says. “For me, this is more than a business; it’s about bridging gaps in accessibility because safety and health should not be a question of financial status.”
Global Recognition
To date, Sense-Tex has garnered attention around the world, and was a top 10 space-tech finalist in European Space Agency’s (ESA) Nordic Launch program in 2022. Her umbrella company, Transforming Textiles and their innovation, Sense-Tex, is now formalizing its presence in the fashion vertical with a showroom in Central Milan. Rosberg’s technology also will be part of Milan Fashion Week 2024 with their fashion brand Modality, which makes fashion garments out of Sense-Tex fabric. “We are currently in conversation with companies and governments from around the world in several verticals including space; healthcare, the Armed Forces, and with the luxury fashion industry in Europe.”
Collaborations and Future Prospects
Rosberg’s future plans include building a new smart recycling factory that mechanically separates the fibers and making Sense-Tex 100 percent circular. “We are currently seeking funding and searching for the right people with a sustainable mindset to help us accelerate Transforming Textiles and Sense-Tex, so we can continue to create more circular textile technologies for the future, both on Earth and in space.” she says. “The need for circular solutions during lunar and Mars explorations and habitats are crucial because once we go beyond just a skeleton crew during lunar and Mars explorations, we’ll need sustainable solutions that ensure that people not only survive but thrive.”
Paving A Path For Other Women
Rosberg says she hopes the path she has carved with her bare hands and determination, allows other women to follow in her footsteps. “As a mom of a special needs child, and someone living with MS, we need to stop hindering women, and people with disabilities, from contributing to the solutions for tomorrow, or we might just miss out on the next Sense-Tex solution out there.”
For anyone out there who is trying to get a seat at the table, or building their own table all together, she has this advice. ”When doors close or life gets hard, keep walking. When you don’t know where to begin, start within. When there is no place or space for you in the world, create your own.”
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