Recent breakthroughs in fiber materials and textile manufacturing processes will soon allow us to design and produce fabrics that see, hear, sense, communicate, store and convert energy, regulate temperature, monitor health, and change color – the dawn of a “fabric revolution” for diverse markets. Community members are invited to attend an industry day event at MIT to learn more and join a vibrant team of innovators working to strengthen that manufacturing ecosystem on June 16 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The U.S. Department of Defense has announced a public-private partnership to address this manufacturing innovation opportunity, for a manufacturing innovation institute in revolutionary fibers and textiles for defense and civilian markets. The Advanced Functional Fabric of America (AFFOA) Institute, including MIT and other key partners, has responded by creating a national non-profit backed by industry, academia, government, and venture capital.
The AFFOA Institute will accelerate widespread commercialization of highly functional fabrics built on a simple premise: functional fabrics necessitate deep fiber innovation and predictive manufacturing for flexible, first-to-market manufacturing opportunities. AFFOA is strategically positioned to deliver revolutionary advances across the entire fabric supply chain, and seeks your partnership in this national fabric innovation network. If you design, make, model, measure, supply or integrate fibers, yarns, and fabrics for defense and civilian applications from apparel to medical sensors, you are well positioned to join the AFFOA team.
Interested individuals may register (free) via the MIT Industrial Liaison Program's registration site. For more information, please contact Tina Gilman at tgilman@mit.edu.
