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Connecting the Dots: Summer 2024 Newsletter

Jul 19, 2024 | Newsletters

Welcome to the Summer 2024 NC DMCSP Newsletter!

Since our previous newsletter, a lot has been happening among our partners in the DMCSP ecosystem. This issue will describe several textile, defense and manufacturing-related events conducted by the DMCSP ecosystem across the state during the past six months. A few of the many events held since January 25, 2024 included in this newsletter are the Defense Alliance of North Carolina’s Artificial Intelligence forum at NC State, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology visit to the Textile Technology Center, NCMBC and DEFTECH Southeast Regional Federal Construction, Infrastructure & Environment Summit in Wilmington and The Southern Textile Association Northern Division Spring Meeting at the NC State Wilson College of Textiles.

We have also included links to relevant articles you may find interesting and upcoming events you may want to attend.

Have a great summer!

— Michael Mullins, Director, Defense Industry Initiatives, NC State Industry Expansion Solutions

Science and Technology forums on Artificial Intelligence

The Defense Alliance of North Carolina with Michael Best Law Firm and the IES Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP) held the first of eight Science and Technology forums on Artificial Intelligence at the Talley Student Union, NC State University on January 25, 2024.

“Decoding North Carolina’s AI Landscape” is a series of interactive roundtables with key representatives from North Carolina’s AI sector and defense community. At the NC State kickoff event to this series, Michael Best representatives reviewed the firm’s comprehensive analysis of North Carolina’s artificial intelligence ecosystem, covering North Carolina’s academic involvement in AI, the state’s growing infrastructure, entities and individuals actively engaged in AI development, and North Carolina businesses that are significantly leveraging existing AI technologies.

The roundtables, at universities across North Carolina going forward, will highlight each host university’s AI work and include strategic AI panelists to dive into a specific portion of the AI market survey to better understand how NC’s AI ecosystem can serve the defense community. This series aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of AI within the state, while shedding light on defense opportunities and challenges in this evolving sector.

Textile Leaders Round Table Discussion

In February, Jasmine Cox-Wade, of the Gaston College Textile Technology Center, and Stephen Sharp, of Fiber Innovation Center participated in a round table discussion with Dr. Arati Prabhakar, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, and fellow textile industry leaders during an event that took place at the Manufacturing Solutions Center. This event followed the January 29, 2024, announcement from the U.S. National Science Foundation that the North Carolina Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine is one of ten groups to win the inaugural NSF Regional Innovation Engines award. Gaston College is a member of the NCTISE leadership team. The other members of the leadership team are The Industrial Commons, NC State University Wilson College of Textiles, the Manufacturing Solutions Center at Catawba Valley Community College, NC IDEA, the NC Department of Commerce, RTI International and Western Piedmont Community College.

Jasmine Cox-Wade (L), Executive Director of the Textile Technology Center, Dr. Arati Prabhakar (C), Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology and Stephen Sharp, VP of Fiber Innovation

Southeast Regional Federal Construction, Infrastructure & Environment Summit

The North Carolina Military Business Center and DEFTECH conducted the Southeast Regional Federal Construction, Infrastructure & Environment Summit in Wilmington, NC on April 16-18, 2024

The Summit is the premier, best-established and most-recognized federal construction event in the Southeastern United States – businesses who are already engaged or want to perform in the federal market attended the event. “The Summit” brought together over 800+ representatives of the Corps of Engineers, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Fort Liberty, Marine Corps Installations East, Seymour Johnson AFB, other Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps installations, US Coast Guard, Department of Veterans Affairs, General Services Administration, other federal agencies, general and specialty contractors, designers and construction suppliers from throughout the Southeast of the United States.

The “Program and Requirements Dialogues” addressed future projects and acquisition strategies, contractor experiences, teaming and supplier opportunities and other issues related to acquisition and execution of projects at military bases and government facilities throughout the Southeast. These sessions also included information on federal opportunities in environmental engineering and remediation, energy and horizontal infrastructure (including roads and intersections, water, wastewater, natural gas and other utilities).

Other Summit sessions addressed critical and timely topics, including supplier, service contract and public-private opportunities, small business programs and utilization, budget impacts, contracting processes and pre- and post-award legal issues for federal contractors. Summit networking and trade show activities allowed businesses to market their services and products to over 800+ general contractors, specialty contractors, engineers, architects, and suppliers.

Northern Division Spring Meeting

On April 23rd, The Southern Textile Association held the Northern Division Spring Meeting at the NC State Wilson College of Textiles (DMCSP partner). The meeting brought together approximately 75 industry representatives from the textile sector.

As one of the seven gatherings organized by Southern Textile Association across the Carolinas each year, this meeting provided a valuable platform for networking, knowledge sharing and collaboration within the industry.

Attendees were treated to a diverse array of topics presented by industry experts, covering crucial aspects of textile manufacturing, innovation, sustainability, and labor issues. One of the highlights of the meeting was the tour of the Wilson College of Textiles at NC State University, offering participants a firsthand glimpse into world-class research, facilities and educational initiatives. Additionally, attendees were given the opportunity to view the final posters and prototypes by students in the Wilson College Textile Engineering (TE) and Textile Technology (TT) Senior Design Program, which underscored the vital role of academia in nurturing future talent and fostering innovation.

Dr. Andre West speaking at the Southern Textile Association Northern
Division meeting at the NC State Wilson College of Textiles about student training projects

FEDTEX 2024

On May 14 – 15, 2024, the Federal and Defense Textile and Tactical Equipment (FEDTEX) Summit hosted by the Office of US Senator Thom Tillis, Office of Senator Ted Budd, the North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) and the North Carolina Defense Technology Transition Office (DEFTECH) connected the US Department of Defense (DoD) and federal agency clothing and individual equipment buyers with US textile manufacturers, textile supply chain suppliers, cut and sew contractors, research and development (R&D) facilities, testing labs and academic resources.

FEDTEX Summit Partners included:

  • NC DMCSP, a program of Industry Expansion Solutions
  • Defense Alliance of North Carolina (DMCSP partner)
  • eTextileCommunications.com (DMCSP partner)
  • North Carolina Textile Technology Center at Gaston College (DMCSP partner)
  • Manufacturing Solutions Center at Catawba Valley Community College (DMCSP partner)
  • Manufacturing & Textile Innovation Network (DMCSP partner)
  • National Council of Textile Organizations
  • INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry
  • Southern Textile Association (DMCSP partner)
  • The Needle’s Eye

On day one of the FEDTEX Summit, attendees participated in tours at the Nonwovens Institute and the Wilson College of Textiles.

Tour 1: North Carolina State University, The Nonwovens Institute
The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) is the world’s first accredited academic program for the interdisciplinary study of engineered fabrics through an innovative partnership of industry, government and academe. NWI engages experts from industry and higher education in building next-generation nonwoven applications while also providing training and guidance to the field’s future leaders. NWI plays a key role in the development and transformation of the latest innovations into marketable fiber-based systems through access to state-of-the-art pilot and testing Facilities.

The tour focused on facilities within the NWI’s Labs: large and small-scale units for spunbond, bonding (including hydroentanglement, thermal calendar and through air), meltblown, carding (crosslapping, needlepunch and heated oven), filament spinning, coating and lamination, filtration testing and analytical.

Tour 2: North Carolina State University, Wilson College of Textiles
Attendees toured the North Carolina State University Wilson College of Textiles lab facilities, including the Weaving Lab, Knitting Lab, Short-Staple Spinning Lab, Physical Testing Lab and Dyeing and Finishing Lab. On the tour. Attendees got a sneak peek at the new Flex Factory Prototype Lab in anticipation of its grand opening this fall. These facilities are managed by Zeis Textiles Extension for Economic Development. All are fully functioning labs and are used for both educational purposes and contracted projects with industry partners for research, product testing and production.

In addition to the Zeis Textiles Extension, attendees toured the Textile Protection and Comfort Center (TPACC). TPACC is the only academic center in the U.S. that incorporates the capabilities to research, test and evaluate the comfort and protective performance of textile materials, garments, and ensemble systems all in one location. The TPACC tour featured several newly developed testing and evaluation assets, including Dynamic PyroMan™ – a newly developed PyroMan™ system that incorporates movement during exposure to flash fire, Liz – a Female Sweating manikin, the only one in use at an academic institution, and two animatronic head forms that can move and breathe, designed for testing the effectiveness of masks, hoods, and upper body garment interfaces in protecting against particulates. Additionally, the TPACC tour showcased demonstrations of PyroMan™, human physiological models and evaporative cooling tests from the material to the system level.

Also, on day one, DEFTECH hosted the Technology Scouting Showcase where four selected businesses presented their cutting-edge textile technologies in a “Shark Tank” format to a panel of government representatives who offered feedback and potential collaborations.

The selected businesses had 10-minutes for presentations followed by 10-minutes for feedback and Q&A from the government panel. The mini briefs aimed to bridge the gap between innovative textile solutions and federal technology needs. This session was a crucial opportunity for textile innovators to connect with federal technology needs and gain visibility among prime manufacturers and stakeholders in the defense sector.

FEDTEX sessions included:

May 14:

  • Selling to the Federal Government
  • Successful Proposal Writing Techniques for Small Business
  • Tools for Success in the Federal Marketplace
  • How to Become a Successful and Profitable Teaming Partner

May 15:

  • Welcome and Orientation
  • Future of Textile Innovation
  • Domestic Textile Production: Made in America, Berry Amendment and Defense Production Act
  • Defense Logistics Agency Procurement Overview
  • US Navy and US Coast Guard Program and Opportunities
  • Operational and Individual Equipment Procurement – Leveraging DLA’s TLS Contract
  • US Marine Corps Program and Opportunities
  • Lunch and Keynote Remarks by William Kenny, Executive Director, Contracting and Acquisition Management, Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support
  • Sustaining a Berry Compliant US Supply Chain
  • US Air Force and Homeland Security Program and Opportunities
  • Government Procurement of Textile Innovation: Industry Perspectives
  • US Army DEVCOM, PEO Soldier & National Guard Program and Opportunities
  • Selling to the Exchanges

 

A record-breaking number of participants, over 400, attended the 2024 Federal and Defense Textile Summit at North Carolina State University

 

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