Innovate. Collaborate. Transform.

Building America's Textile Innovation Ecosystem.

From fiber to factory floor, FutureTEX is igniting a new era of American textile manufacturing, equipping the warfighter and putting domestic manufacturers at the forefront of innovation.

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A fighter aircraft seen from above, trailing vapour

About FutureTEX

FutureTEX brings together industry, academia and government to advance textile manufacturing technologies for military and domestic applications.

The institute will be administered by a new nonprofit housed at Gaston College's Kimbrell Campus in Belmont, North Carolina, with hubs in Raleigh, North Carolina (NC State); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Drexel University); Lowell, Massachusetts (University of Massachusetts Lowell); and Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia Tech).

Manufacturing USA Department of War Manufacturing Innovation Institute seal

  • 10 years

    National Department of War initiative

  • $480M

    Funding ceiling over the decade

  • 1,600+

    Industry clients and partners across the FutureTEX ecosystem

  • 200+

    Letters of support

Mission and vision

Our mission

FutureTEX rapidly accelerates and derisks innovation and high-performance textiles to expand America's textile supply chain, national security and economy, and grow an agile workforce.

Our vision

Ensure preeminence in America's national security and economy through rapid innovations in advanced manufacturing of textiles and an agile workforce.

What FutureTEX will do

  • A pipette dispensing into a rack of labelled sample vials in a laboratory.

    01

    Applied Research and Commercialization

    Moving applied textile research into production for the warfighter and the domestic textile industry.

    Learn more →
  • A technician at an automated laboratory dispensing machine, checking a tray of vials.

    02

    Workforce Development

    Accelerating the advanced textile workforce.

    Learn more →
  • Looking down on a textile machine creel, rows of yarn tubes on their spindles.

    03

    Manufacturing Modernization

    Upgrading facilities and equipment to make the domestic textile supply network more robust for the defense industrial base.

    Learn more →

Who FutureTEX is for

FutureTEX spans the full fibers and textiles sector. Here's how each part of the network gets involved.

How can your organization get involved with FutureTEX?

Tell us about your organization and your interests, and the FutureTEX team will be in touch.

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Our partners

Applied research, testbed and innovation institutions

Industry trade associations