$317-mn hub for next-gen textiles in US

Aprivate-public collaboration will invest $317 million towards developing next generation textile industry in the United States. According to a just released statement from the U.S. Department of Defense, a consortium of 89 universities, industry and non-profits organised Cambridge, MA-based Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will form the “New Revolutionary Fibres and Textiles Manufacturing Innovation Hub.”

A non-profit vehicle Advanced Functional Fabrics of America Alliance that has the consortium members involving Universities like MIT, Cornell, University of Tennessee-Knoxville and leading industry partners will be leading the charge of the innovation work and will be managed by the U.S. Army.

U.S. Department of Defense will invest $75 million and there will be huge contributions from non-federal entities that is about three times the size of U.S. Government’s investment in the next generation fibre-textile chain research. The total effort is estimated to be worth about an investment of $317 million. Leading technology giants such as Bose, Intel and many textile innovative companies are involved in this effort.

The new revolutionary fibre institute is the sixth manufacturing innovation hub initiative by President Obama administered through the U.S. Department of Defense. These institutes are aimed at developing high-tech sectors in the U.S. to enable to be competitive, especially in the manufacturing sector.

By: Seshadri Ramkumar, Texas Tech University, USA