Dr. Mirela Blaga is a professor at ''Gheorghe Asachi'' Technical University of Iasi, Romania, Faculty of Industrial Design and Business Management, Department of Knitting and Clothing Technology, Head of the faculty Doctoral School and PhD supervisor in the field of functional textiles. Her main areas of expertise are knitting technologies, functional materials, CAD systems for knitting and e-learning in textiles. Dr. Blaga coordinates the faculty's Erasmus EU academic exchange programme for students and professors from more than 40 countries. She is a member of the University Senate from 2016 until 2028.
Dr. Blaga is the TUIASI coordinator of 8 EU Erasmus Plus projects, 3 international and 2 national research projects. She is a member of 12 editorial boards of international journals, an external reviewer for 30 PhD theses of Indian universities, member of 45 scientific committees of international conferences.
She is an expert and Vice-Chair of the EU Commission for the ''Marie Slodowska-Curie Actions'' Horizon Europe programs, since 2011. Prof. Blaga was President of AUTEX (Association of Universities of Textiles in Europe) for the period 2019-2022. She is President of the Romanian section of the International Federation of Knitting Technologists (IFKT), a member of the Chartered Member of Textile Institute of Manchester (Ctext ATI). Dr. Blaga was chairman of the conferences: IFKT Congress 2012, World Textile Conference AUTEX 2015, CORTEP 2024 and organizer of workshops on textile education at the conference „eLearning and Software for Education” ELSE 2013-2023.

Employment: Full professor at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Department of Textiles, Graphic Arts and Design
Education: University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Enginereeing, Department of textiles: B.Sc., 1989; M.Sc., 1994; Ph.D.; doctoral thesis in Textile Science, 2001
Experinences: 1989 – 1996 Junior Researcher; 1996 – 2003 Assistant; 2003 – 2013 Assistant Profesor, 2013 - 2019 Associated Profesor, 2019 - present Full Professor in the field of textiles.
Teaching activities: courses in BSc, MSc and PhD programmes in the field of apparel manufacturing, woven structures, weaving technology, advanced mechanical textile technologies, mechanical functionalisation of textiles, composites.
Research interests: Weaving technology and woven structures, mechanical functionalisation of woven fabrics (influence of construction of threads and knits/fabrics on the UV protection and other permeability properties of textiles), influence of fabric structure on the adhesion and functional properties of 3D printed polymers on the woven fabric, and research on historical textiles, interpretation of clothing heritage for contemporary tourism