08/20/2026
NC State University and Gaston College Kimbrell Campus in Belmont will lead a Department of Defense initiative aimed at improving production and performance of textiles used by the military.
The FutureTEX award launches the Defense Department’s ninth Manufacturing Innovation Institute, and includes $36 million in the first year and has a ceiling of $480 million over a decade. It will bring together industry, government, university and nonprofit partners to advance manufacturing technologies of textiles for military and domestic applications.