News

Knitting

3D Knit. Zero Waste. Full Control.

• By  Textile Excellence
• March 01, 2026

Innovation at the University of Cincinnati has a new centre of gravity - and it weighs 3,200 pounds.

On January 30, 2026, DAAP took delivery of a Stoll CMS 530 K 7.2, an eight-foot-long industrial digital knitting system that fundamentally changes how textiles can be engineered. This is not a classroom upgrade. It is manufacturing-grade capability installed inside an academic studio.

The machine merges advanced programming with 3D prototyping. It enables the creation of complex three-dimensional knitted structures, high-performance textiles and even embedded smart materials. Garments are no longer cut and stitched from flat fabric. They are engineered directly from yarn, built layer by layer, loop by loop.

Professor Zach Hoh, associate professor of practice and fashion design program coordinator, describes the system as a convergence point. Knitting, he explains, is a rigorous construction method. It allows designers to build garments from yarn rather than assembling cut panels. With this technology, students must think about structure, geometry and form at the same time. Two-dimensional inputs become three-dimensional realities. It is design, engineering and problem-solving in one continuous process.

The real leap lies in the digital backbone. Integrated with Pantone X-ray scanning and Clo3D virtual prototyping, the system translates artwork directly into stitch architecture with precise colour separation. Code becomes fabric. Data becomes structure. Ideas move from screen to textile without losing fidelity.

This level of capability positions students at the front edge of digital textile engineering. They are no longer just designing garments. They are programming material behaviour.

Funded through the Ullman School of Design, the Ullman Technology Fund and FEMA-backed protective textile initiatives, the investment reflects a broader shift. Advanced knitting is no longer confined to industrial R&D centres. It is becoming central to how the next generation of designers and textile engineers are trained. It signals a new model of textile creation - where software, yarn and structural intelligence converge on the same platform.

Professor Zach Hoh, associate professor of practice and fashion design program coordinator, describes the system as a convergence point. Knitting, he explains, is a rigorous construction method. It allows designers to build garments from yarn rather than assembling cut panels. With this technology, students must think about structure, geometry and form at the same time. Two-dimensional inputs become three-dimensional realities. It is design, engineering and problem-solving in one continuous process.