Abstract:

Nowadays education and research promote interdisciplinary cooperation and development. An interdisciplinary approach creates change and new opportunities for design education in general, while innovation, the use of advanced materials and technologies transforms design technology studies. These changes affect the development of design technology as an integrated interdisciplinary direction, the creation of innovative solutions, products and services in research design activities.

The use of laser technologies in the textile industry is topical. Textile laser processing is referred to as environmentally friendly technology with many advantages over traditional fabric processing techniques. Existing laser sources are increasingly used in the textile manufacturing process, i.e. laser marking, cutting. Replacing traditional labor-intensive work with laser technology offers new opportunities for technological solutions and improvements in economic performance in the textile industry. This study provides an experiment optimizing laser processing (marking and cutting) process of mixed fiber textiles using a carbon dioxide laser.

The research actualizes the aspect of collaboration involving design students in research of mixed textile material laser processing. The aim of the article is to analyze the results of design students' textile laser processing research in the aspect of collaboration, and to promote its development in design technology education in Rēzekne Academy of Technologies. Research methods used: theoretical - literature and Internet resource research and analysis, empirical - experiment and its data processing. Eight students of engineering and design study programs and four lecturers-researchers participate in the research. Research period 2019/2020. The research has a practical significance, because it substantiates collaboration in the interdisciplinary experimental research process and results, determining improvement direction of collaborative research activity of design students.

Keywords:

Collaboration in research project, design studies, engineering studies, laser technologies, textiles.