US Department of War taps NC State to lead $480 million military textile initiative

North Carolina State University has been chosen to lead a 10-year Department of War initiative, called FutureTEX, aimed at modernizing textile manufacturing in the US for the defense industry. The award includes 36 million dollars in its first year and carries a ceiling of 480 million dollars over the decade.

FutureTEX brings together industry, government, university and nonprofit partners to advance textile manufacturing technologies for military and domestic use. The initiative will focus on workforce development and the modernization of facilities and equipment to strengthen US competitiveness, with the aim of making the domestic supply network more robust for the defense industrial base through digital infrastructure and other emerging technologies.

Core partners in establishing FutureTEX include Drexel University, Gaston College, Georgia Tech, ISAIC and the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The initiative is recruiting industry partners and says it has already received more than 100 letters of support from industry organizations.

"North Carolina and NC State University have an enduring legacy with both the military and textiles industry, with NC State having the only college in North America dedicated to textiles," said NC State chancellor Kevin Howell. "I am proud our university will play a critical role in this national effort that will strengthen our economy and defense infrastructure."

One of NC State's first objectives under FutureTEX is to work with Gaston College to establish a nonprofit organization that will take on administrative oversight of the initiative. The new institute will be based at Gaston College's Kimbrell Campus in Belmont, North Carolina, with hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Lowell, Massachusetts; and Atlanta, Georgia.

"FutureTEX is focused on creating a cutting-edge national ecosystem for defense textiles that simply doesn't exist today," said David Hinks, chief strategic partnerships officer of FutureTEX and dean of NC State's Wilson College of Textiles. "This will involve commercializing applied research to help American textile manufacturing meet the needs of both the warfighter and the domestic textile industry."

Gaston College president John Hauser said the state's textile roots, dating back to the late 19th century, made it a natural anchor for the initiative. Drexel's Center for Functional Fabrics director Genevieve Dion and NC State vice chancellor for research and innovation Krista Walton also welcomed the partnership, citing NC State's standing as a member of more Manufacturing USA institutes than nearly any other US university.

This article was written with the assistance of AI.