Dr. Grace Wasike Namwamba has a message for the apparel and textile industry: 'optimize all digital printing'. In her recently published book, Digital Textile Printing (ISBN 1-4196-1678-1), Namwamba offers in-depth information about digital textile printing, offering guidelines for printing and processing digitally printed fabrics.

Namwamba, a researcher with Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, started investigating digitally printed fabric looking for ways to optimize the various processes and colorfastness testing. What she found was limited information. Because of the derth of valuable research in this area, Dr. Namwamba eddied up her research and published her findings on the unique trend in Digital Textile Printing.

The 87-page book, which is organized in four parts, utilizes a comprehensive approach to digital textile printing by providing information on a wide range of topics. It is her hope that apparel and textile professionals will find this book useful.

Originally from Kenya, Dr. Namwamba fascination with digital textile printing began in 2000 at the International Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA) Annual Conference. There, a session on digital textile printing sparked her curiosity and led her to a summer workshop on the subject. Soon after that, she received a grant from the US Department of Agriculture that enabled her to acquire a digital textile printer.

The highly accomplished scholar, Dr. Namwamba conducts research and provides service to the community while teaching apparel merchandising and textiles at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She has received numerous grants that have acquired state-of-the-art technology for advanced teaching and research. Her work at the SU Ag Center has been featured in several local and regional newspapers and on TV.

Dr. Namwamba is the recipient of the 2003 US Department of Agriculture/NASULGC Teaching Excellence Award for the Southern Region in 2003 and the 2001 Southern University Teacher of the Year. She holds a B.Sc. from Egerton University, Kenya, an M.Ed. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and a Ph.D. from Iowa State University.

Among Dr. Namwamba's academic acuity lies a brillant musician who recently produced Mawazo Ya Tumaini (God has Good Thoughts and Plans for Everyone), an African gospel CD.

Performed in traditional Swahili with modern African beats and guitars, Mawazo Ya Tumaini offers praise and worship songs including "Baba Ninakupenda" ("Father, I love"), "Wastahili Bwana" ("You are worthy, Lord"), and "Sahngwe Kwa Bwana" ("Shout to the Lord").

She credits her musical passion to her father, a talented guitarist who delighted in playing music and singing for his children. With two of her three siblings, she formed a small band led by her older sister Florence Wasike, who played dad's box guitar in his absence and later introduced the guitar to their brother, Joseph Wasike.Namwamba's experience in musical performance started in primary school where she was often called upon by the headmistress to perform for guests in the school's assembly hall.

In the summer of 2004, a pivotal moment in her musical career occurred: Reuben Kigame, a renowned evangelist and gospel musician, was touring the United States. Dr. Namwamba's husband, Fulbert, sought out the famed musician and requested him to visit Baton Rouge. After Kigame's visit, Fulbert encouraged her to start singing with a view of recording an album in their home recording studio. When Kigame returned to the United States the following summer, he invited Dr. Namwamba to sing with his group. As a result, he compelled her to record the album.

In December 2005, Kigame returned to the United States to join Dr. Namwamba's album production. The album "Mawazo Ya Tumaini" was completed December 2005.

Digital Textile Printing is available at www.Amazon.com for USD $46.99. For $7.99, the e-book is available at http://www.booksurge.com/author.php3?account=GPUB04445. The CD is available at http://cdbaby.com/cd/namwamba for $15.

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Contact:
Dr. Grace Namwamba at: 225-771-2262 ext 219, or grace_namwamba@suagcenter.com