LOWELL — It’s a tale of two fabrics.
The standard uniform catches fire and never stands a chance, burning completely through.
But the other flame-retardant uniform self-extinguishes the fire within a few seconds, resulting in a charred sleeve. This safer, lower cost, non-toxic material may end up saving soldiers and firefighters in the future.
This was one of the many demonstrations at UMass Lowell’s new Fabric Discovery Center at 110 Canal St. on Thursday, during which officials cut the ribbon on the groundbreaking facility.
City, state and university leaders stressed that the 28,000-square-foot center in the Hamilton Canal Innovation District is a new national model for the development of “smart” clothing and textiles, flexible electronics, robotics and automation.
“Today is another example of the hard work, the effort and the reputation that has been built and developed by so many people here over the course of the last decade,” Gov. Charlie Baker said at Thursday’s ceremony.
“To the students who are here, we want to ensure these new ideas you’re dreaming up day-after-day, month-after-month, and year-after-year will be able to be done because we’re going to focus on making sure you have the tools to be successful as you dream big,” he later added.
Last year, Baker announced $11.3 million in grants to UMass Lowell from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative (M2I2) — $10 million of which went toward the construction of the Fabric Discovery Center.
On Thursday, he announced a $1 million grant for UMass Lowell’s New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation (NERVE) Center, which is now located at 110 Canal St. alongside the Fabric Discovery Center.
The money will support the development of robotics used in manufacturing, as well as a robotics training center for university and community college students and faculty.
“That’s fantastic,” UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacquie Moloney said in reaction to the $1 million grant for the NERVE Center, which used to be located on Pawtucket Boulevard across the city.
“We wanted to bring the center here because it’s going to bring a lot of buzz and visibility to us, the university, and also for the city,” she added. “This cutting-edge testing center is going to draw a lot of attention. We’re excited.”
At the Fabric Discovery Center and NERVE Center on Thursday, there were robots completing a variety of tasks, flame-retardant textiles, water- and chemical-resistant fabrics and more.
UMass President Marty Meehan, a former UMass Lowell chancellor, said the facility will create jobs, give students key research and educational opportunities, and help revolutionize textile manufacturing.
“Students are acquiring the critical skills that employers are looking for, and that’s exactly what this university mission is all about,” he said.
Meehan, like many others, stressed the unique partnership between the city, state and federal government.
Companies, UMass Lowell researchers, students and other partners at the Fabric Discovery Center can bring ideas to life in spaces dedicated to design, prototyping, pilot manufacturing and testing.
There will also be opportunities at the center for K-12 students to learn about STEM fields.
In addition, the center brings together three of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Manufacturing USA Institutes under one roof: Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, NextFlex, and Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing. The institutes unite private industry, higher education and government to grow the country’s manufacturing and research and development sector.
“This is amazing,” Mayor Bill Samaras said while touring the center on Thursday. “Just the amount of potential money in this room. I think this is really going to put Lowell in a great position to advance.”
Follow Rick Sobey on Twitter @rsobeyLSun
