The COVID-19 pandemic created a ripple effect for U.S. manufacturers that revealed not only a lack of redundancy in the supply chain but also a lack of transparency. As the pandemic took hold, worldwide demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) dramatically increased and many material and product costs skyrocketed. It quickly became apparent...

The future of advanced manufacturing in the U.S. is being built at innovative facilities that enable experimentation in process and product development. The people and organizations at these next-generation facilities are part of a collaborative effort to remove barriers of entry and create an ecosystem to build supply chains and provide a path...

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...

AFFOA established a partnership between Greater Lawrence Technical School (GLTS), MIT – Edgerton Center, and AFFOA HQ to develop a technical high school curriculum in Advanced Functional Fabrics. The curriculum kicked off with a design and product challenge presented to GLTS students to create a product that utilizes AFF technology that solve...