The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way manufacturers recruit, train and develop their workforce. Long term, this shift will work in manufacturers' favor as online learning is also key to developing the skills necessary to leverage the emerging technologies that will give rise to the advanced manufacturing economy of the future.

A team of University of Massachusetts (UMass) Lowell researchers has partnered with researchers from Saint-Gobain, a multinational manufacturer of construction and high-performance materials, to create new, cost-effective sensor-laden textiles that can be used to monitor the structural health and integrity of vital infrastructures across the...