Meghan KellyOn April 2nd, several students walked into a clean and brightly lit showroom showing racks of interesting knit garments and intricately knit objects. After formal introductions were made, the students made their way to the back of the building, entering the warehouse. This is where the all action was.
The students and their professor, Meghan Kelly, were visiting Shima Seiki USA at their New Jersey location. This small building houses some of the coolest weft knitting technology in the world. Shima Seiki, whose headquarters are located in Wakayama Japan, is a global leader in weft knit innovation. While most apparel and textile manufacturing happens overseas, there is still a bustling knit trade in the U.S. The machines running in the U.S. are mostly used for small-run production, sampling, and innovating, and of course, research and education.
Extra exciting, was the fact that we were met by two alums, Hannah Hill, class of 2021, and Emily Radomski, class of 2023. Hannah works for Shima Seiki USA as a programmer and technician. She travels all over the mid-Atlantic to offer software trainings and machine maintenance and repair. Emily works for a small apparel design and production company called Knit Illustrated, based in NYC. They own a range of machine types and gauges and Emily specializes in the Shima’s trademark “WholeGarment” technology and primarily uses their most advanced, four-bed machine, the Mach 2XS.
On our visit, our students asked a lot of questions and got to participate in demonstrations and see items being knit on a variety of machines. The folks at Shima Seiki USA, including the president Nobby Sasmoto, were gracious and welcoming. They offered words of advice, tips and tricks, and even negotiated introductions to their clients so that out students could network and connect directly about opportunities and internships.
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