E-36 Smart Textile Technology: The Future of Fabrication

<p>NC State University Industry Expansion Solutions’ (IES) North Carolina Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (NC DMCSP), creates opportunities for smart textile innovators. </p> <p>As our lives become ever connected through smart phones, tablets and other devices, the way we interact has changed dramatically and that even applies to textiles. Textiles come in a wide variety of forms, from clothing to bedding to household items. Smart textiles include the next generation of wearable technologies. They combine textile design with advanced sensing capabilities. This new class of materials promises to revolutionize the future of wearable computing.</p> <p>In 2021, the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) awarded North Carolina State University IES a grant under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP). The DMCSP is designed to support long-term community investments that strengthen national security innovation and expand the capabilities of the defense manufacturing industrial ecosystem. The program was created to recognize communities that demonstrate best practices in attracting and expanding defense manufacturing by bringing together key local stakeholders and using long-term planning that integrates targeted public and private investments across a community’s entire defense industrial ecosystem.</p> <p>In this episode of Clocking In Phil Mintz sits down with Dr. William Reynolds and Dr. Casey Boutwell - two participants in the NC DMCSP sponsored propeller project looking to market their breakthrough smart textile technology. </p> <p>Founded in 2017, Onda Vision Technologies (OVT) is a North Carolina State University startup company. OVT is a spin-out company from the North Carolina State University’s Advanced Self-Powered Systems Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST) Center, which is a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored Nanosystems Engineering Research Center (NERC). </p> <p>Onda Vision has developed a wearable sensor f