At the 14th annual NCTO meeting, outgoing Chairman Robert H. Chapman III painted a picture of the U.S. textile industry, and the association’s achievements and upcoming goals.

By Robert H. Chapman, III

Editor’s Note: The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. NAICS Subsector 313 covers Textile Mills, subsector 314 covers Textile Product Mills and subsector 315 covers Apparel.

What a difference one year can make. Consider the following. In March 2016:

• There were still five Republican candidates for president;
• Bernie Sanders had won 15 of 29 Democratic primaries;
• No one seemed concerned about a possible exit of Great Britain from the European Union; and
• The Chicago Cubs still had not won a World Series since 1908.

How history went on to unfold reminds us of just how much change can occur in 12 months. And nowhere has change been more dramatic than in Washington. Unforeseen by most pollsters and pundits, the election of President Trump turned conventional political wisdom on its head and reignited debate on largely stagnant policy issues ranging from trade to tax and immigration reform.

Consequently, if there was ever a time for the U.S. textile industry to fully marshal its resources and decisively engage in Washington, it is now. Thanks to the new Trump policy dynamic, the next 12 months represent the best opportunity in a generation to reorient U.S. manufacturing policy, level the playing field, and usher in a new era of growth for U.S. textile makers.

Before delving into policy matters, however, a statistical recap of how the industry fared in 2016 is in order.

The Numbers

Thanks to a laser-like focus on boosting productivity, flexibility, and innovation, the U.S. textile industry has cemented its position in the global market.

In 2016, the value of U.S. man-made fiber and filament, textile, and apparel shipments totaled an estimated $74.4 billion, an increase of 11 percent since 2009¹.

The breakdown of 2016 shipments by industry sector is²:

• $30.3 billion for yarns and fabrics;
• $24.0 billion for home furnishings, carpet and other non-apparel sewn products;
• $12.7 billion for apparel; and
• an estimated $7.4 billion for man-made fibers.

Capital expenditures also are healthy. Investment in fiber, yarn, fabric, and other non-apparel textile product manufacturing has climbed from $960 million in 2009 to $1.7 billion in 2015 — an increase of 75 percent³.

The textile industry’s supply chain employs 565,000 workers⁴. The 2016 figures include:

• 113,900 jobs in yarns and fabrics;
• 115,000 jobs in home furnishings, carpet, and other non-apparel sewn products;
• 131,300 jobs in apparel manufacturing;
• 25,700 jobs in man-made fibers;
• 126,600 jobs in cotton farming and related industry; and
• 52,500 jobs in wool growing and related industry.

When examining these employment figures, it is important to note that the heavy job losses incurred because of massive import surges in the 1995-2008 timeframe, virtually have stopped⁵. Today, like most other U.S. manufacturing sectors, fluctuations in employment figures are generally due to normal business cycles, new investment, or productivity increases.

U.S. exports of fiber, yarns, fabrics, made-ups, and apparel were $26.3 billion in 2016⁶. Shipments to NAFTA and CAFTA-DR countries accounted for 56 percent of all U.S. textile supply chain exports.

The breakdown of exports by sector is as follows:

• $4.0 billion —cotton and wool;
• $4.5 billion — yarns;
• $8.6 billion — fabrics;
• $3.6 billion — home furnishings, carpet, and other non-apparel sewn products; and
• $5.6 billion — apparel.

The United States is especially well-positioned globally in fiber, yarn, fabric, and non-apparel sewn products markets; it was the world’s third largest individual country exporter of those products in 2015⁷.

The most important U.S. export markets by region are⁸:

• $11.5 billion — NAFTA;
• $3.2 billion — CAFTA-DR;
• $7.0 billion — Asia;
• $2.8 billion — Europe; and
• $1.8 billion — Rest of World.

Focusing solely on America’s $13 billion in man-made fiber, yarn and fabric exports, the countries buying the most product are⁹:

• $4.4 billion — Mexico;
• $1.6 billion — Canada;
• $1.3 billion — Honduras;
• $759 million — China; and
• $439 million — Dominican Republic.

(See footnote 10 for top four export markets by country for entire textile supply chain)¹⁰

Wrapping up the numbers, the fundamentals for the U.S. textile industry remain sound. This is true even though the U.S. market for textiles and apparel was soft in 2016. For the most part, the sluggishness was due to factors beyond the industry’s control: an underperforming U.S. economy, a weak global economy, and disruption within the retail sector as sales shift from brick and mortar outlets to the internet. With that said, the U.S. textile industry’s commitment to capital reinvestment and a continued emphasis on quality and innovation make it well-positioned to adapt to market changes and take advantage of opportunities as 2017 moves along.

Policy Issues

Another cause for optimism is President Trump’s forceful call to reinvigorate domestic manufacturing. For decades, U.S. policy has undervalued domestic manufacturing’s importance to America, and President Trump is right to question whether this has been good for the country.

Precisely because they will stimulate manufacturing and kick start job creation, NCTO enthusiastically endorses President Trump’s macro policy objectives of fighting for free, but fair trade, enforcing U.S. trade laws, making the U.S. tax code more internationally competitive, cutting unnecessary regulation, revitalizing infrastructure, buying American, ensuring cheap energy, and fixing health care.

Drilling down to the details, NCTO agrees with President Trump that U.S. trade policy must be changed to reflect the reality of the twenty-first century economy for it to truly benefit a broad swath of American society.

That is why NCTO supported President Trump’s executive action to withdraw the United States from the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) even though NCTO had endorsed the agreement just one year earlier.

To better understand the rationale behind this strategic repositioning, please recall that NCTO worked tirelessly to persuade the previous administration that TPP should include all provisions necessary to prevent any sudden surge of imports from Vietnam that would be capable of disrupting the U.S.-Western Hemisphere textile and apparel supply chain. Indeed, NCTO is grateful to the Obama administration for partnering with the U.S. textile industry on TPP to negotiate:

• a strong yarn-forward rule of origin for the vast majority of products;
• reasonable duty phase-outs (10-12 years) for most sensitive products;
• provisions that would have maintained a stable Western Hemisphere production chain; and
• customs provisions that capture the critical enforcement aspects of previous agreements.

Noting that NCTO had leveraged its prospective support for TPP in return for the Obama administration securing these vital objectives, it was incumbent upon NCTO to be true its word and endorse TPP when the Obama administration kept its end of the bargain.

The 2016 election of President Trump, however, brought about a dramatic change on trade. President Trump’s fundamental opposition to TPP allowed NCTO to revisit its position and communicate to his transition team soon after the election that NCTO supported withdrawal from TPP.

Mindful that President Trump also had signaled interest in pursuing individual bilateral free trade agreements with TPP countries, NCTO further communicated opposition to any bilateral free trade agreement with Vietnam because of that country’s non-market economy and its demonstrated ability to disrupt the U.S. textile market.

Unlike TPP, NCTO strongly supports NAFTA because it is a pillar upon which the U.S.-Western Hemisphere supply chain is built. At $11.5 billion combined, Mexico and Canada are the U.S. textile industry’s largest export markets. Moreover, Mexico provides a vital garment assembly capacity the United States largely lacks.

That said, NCTO agrees with President Trump that NAFTA should be reviewed and can be improved. For example, NAFTA’s yarn-forward rule of origin contains loopholes like tariff preference levels (TPLs) that benefit third-party countries, such as China at the expense of U.S. industry. Closing them would boost U.S. textile production and employment.

NCTO also strongly endorses President Trump’s call for much tougher trade enforcement. Trade deals grant lucrative duty-free preferences to importers, thereby creating significant enticements for would-be wrongdoers. Stopping customs fraud has the twofold benefit of filling Treasury Department coffers and encouraging more production in the NAFTA and DR-CAFTA regions.

Without hesitation, the United States should focus more resources on customs enforcement to aggressively investigate those who purposely undervalue U.S. imports to avoid duties or who illegally circumvent U.S. free trade agreement rules of origin via third-country transshipment or through other fraudulent means. In addition, penalties for customs fraud must be certain, swift, and sufficient to deter this harmful, illegal activity.

Also within the trade enforcement realm, NCTO supports U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s proposal for the U.S. government to self-initiate anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases. Other helpful actions the U.S. government should take include continued rejection of China’s demand to be recognized as a market economy and cracking down on illegal currency undervaluation.

One final trade priority is the enactment of a Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB). NCTO strongly supports duty relief on manufacturing inputs that are unavailable domestically and do not compete with other U.S.-made products.

That said, NCTO is concerned that the MTB process is being abused through the filing of hundreds of petitions on finished goods, particularly apparel. On principle, NCTO opposes MTBs on finished goods because they often compete with like products made with U.S. inputs. Duty reductions on finished textile items from any source can also undermine U.S. free trade agreements that grant duty relief through a yarn forward rule of origin.

Moving on to tax policy, NCTO wholeheartedly agrees that the U.S. tax code is in dire need of reform to make it more competitive internationally. Lowering the corporate rate and allowing the immediate expensing of capital investment would be a significant benefit to NCTO members. NCTO is also carefully studying the border adjustable taxation issue. As a trade association representing U.S manufacturers and exporters, NCTO is keenly aware that foreign border tax schemes, including tax rebates to offshore competitors who export goods to our market, disadvantage U.S. producers. As such, NCTO is poised to engage congressional leadership when any detailed border adjustable taxation legislation is put forth to thoroughly understand how that proposal may impact the textile industry.

NCTO is also pleased with President Trump’s initiative to cut unnecessary regulation and is encouraging its members to take advantage of the public comment period that closes on March 31 to submit ideas to improve the federal regulatory regime.

Rebuilding America’s infrastructure is another NCTO priority. Besides boosting U.S. productivity and facilitating commerce, infrastructure is a growing market for textile products such as workwear, geomembranes, filtration systems, and composites for load-bearing systems.

Fostering a national culture of innovation is important too. In that regard, NCTO urges President Trump to nurture the Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA) project. This defense department program is matched three to one with private dollars and tasked with making it easier to develop and commercialize the next generation of high-performance textiles.

With respect to government procurement policy, NCTO is proud of its steadfast efforts to defend and strengthen the Berry Amendment. This “buy American” provision for the military is an excellent example of how the government and the private sector can work together to the benefit of one another. The U.S. military benefits from guaranteed access to a secure U.S. supply line for thousands of superior, highly-advanced products. In return, the domestic textile sector receives $1.5 to $2 billion in annual Defense Department sales that boost U.S. investment and employment.

Noting that the Trump administration and Congress appear serious about wanting to buy more American, NCTO would aggressively work to make sure textiles are included in any effort to enact common sense laws or regulations that would strengthen “buy American” requirements applying to infrastructure or other federal spending. As demonstrated by Berry, when the federal government buys American, it is good for the U.S. textile industry and even better for America.

Another NCTO priority is ensuring that the U.S. textile industry has uninterrupted access to reasonably priced energy. Most man-made fibers are derivatives of petroleum products. In addition, many textile producers are reliant on natural gas to power manufacturing operations. Noting this, NCTO strongly supports construction of expanded oil and gas pipeline capacity to keep energy prices low.

Finally, the U.S. textile industry must acknowledge that its most valuable resource, its workforce, is aging. To keep thriving long term, American textile manufacturing must recruit a new generation of talented chemists, designers, engineers, skilled technicians and semi-skilled labor. To this end, U.S. companies must continue to forge links with local leaders, schools, and government, vocational programs, community colleges, universities, and state business lobbies to make sure that state and federal policy produces a labor pool both adequate in size and well prepared to succeed in a hyper-competitive global economy.

Other NCTO Activities

The industry’s need to attract America’s best and brightest is one reason why NCTO embarked upon the “American Textiles: We Make Amazing” rebranding campaign two years ago.

NCTO is pleased to report the campaign is slowly, but surely, challenging outdated perceptions of the U.S. textile sector thanks to the fact that American textile manufacturers have a great story to tell. America’s textile industry is world class thanks to leveraging the most cutting-edge production processes, investing in the best machinery, and leading in sustainability and innovation.

Judging by the earned media and social engagement generated by “American Textiles: We Make Amazing” marketing efforts, more and more people are hearing the good news and viewing the U.S. textile industry in a new light.

Conclusion

Although the U.S. textile industry has stabilized its position in the global economy, it cannot afford to rest on its laurels. There will always be intense and sometimes unfair competition from abroad, changing consumer demands and inevitable economic downturns.

Again, that is why it is so important for the U.S. textile industry to seize this generational moment to influence federal policies if it wants to usher in a new era of growth. With so much at stake in the next twelve months, members of NCTO and other textile trade associations must stay actively involved in their respective organizations. Moreover, all domestic textile manufacturers who have not been active in Washington, but are serious about wanting a seat at the table to change textile policy for the better, are invited to join NCTO. Good policy does not materialize from thin air, and NCTO must be well financed to affect the changes that will give our sector the best chance to build a stable and prosperous future for U.S. textile companies. That’s a long way of saying the U.S. textile sector’s great workers and their families and communities are depending on the leadership of the industry’s leaders.

Footnotes:

[1] Source: U.S. Census Bureau Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM).  Data covers NAICS categories 313 (Textile Mills), 314 (Textile Product Mills), 315 (Apparel), and 32522 (Artificial and Synthetic Fibers and Filaments).  2016 Data for NAICS 32522 is not yet available.  Our 2016 estimate for the value of shipments in that category is $7.4 billion.

[2] Source: U.S. Census Bureau Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM).  Data covers NAICS categories 313 (Textile Mills), 314 (Textile Product Mills), 315 (Apparel), and 32522 (Artificial and Synthetic Fibers and Filaments).  2016 Data for NAICS 32522 is not yet available.  Our estimate for the value of shipments in that category is based on data from 2015.

[3] Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Capital Expenses Survey (ACES).  Data covers NAICS categories 313 (Textile Mills), 314 (Textile Product Mills), and 315 (Apparel).

[4] Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Cotton Council, and the American Sheep Industry Association.

[5] Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

[6] Source: Data for textiles and apparel is from The Export Market Report produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA).  U.S. export data for cotton, wool, and fine animal hair is calculated from the U.S. International Trade Commission Interactive Tariff and Trade DataWeb using HTS Codes 5101, 5102, 5103 (wool), 5201, 5202, and 5203 (cotton).

[7] Source: U.N. COMTRADE Database

[8] Source: U.S. Commerce Department and U.S. International Trade Commission

[9] Id.

[10] The top 4 exports markets by country for the entire textile supply chain are (1) Mexico – $6.3 billion, (2) Canada – $5.2 billion, (3) China, Hong Kong and Macau – $1.8 billion, and (4) Honduras – $1.5 billion respectively.

Editor’s Note: Robert H. Chapman III is chairman and CEO of Inman, S.C.-based Inman Mills. He served as the 2016-17 NCTO chairman. At the recent annual meeting in Washington, William V.McCrary Jr., chairman and CEO of Spartanburg-based William Barnet and Son LLC, succeeded Chapman as NCTO chairman for 2017-18.

May/June 2017

Researchers at NC State’s College of Textiles have teamed up to develop mosquito bite resistant solutions for the consumer market.

By Dr. Andre West, Technical Editor; and Sarah Corica

At North Carolina State University (NC State) in Raleigh, N.C., there are cages filled with hundreds of buzzing, hungry mosquitoes ready to take their first ever blood meal. A researcher walks into a cage expecting the worst-case scenario. However, when emerging after 20 minutes of intense mosquito activity, amazingly the researcher has sustained only a few bites. The question is: How was the researcher protected from the hungry mosquitoes? The answer is by wearing garments made of a sleek, comfortable novel fabric. The mosquito test is part of NC State’s research to develop a highly engineered, comfortable fabric that is mosquito bite resistant to a very high level, but also free of unwanted pesticides.

The Challenge

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mosquito bites cause more deaths — 725,000 people every year — than any other organism on the planet. The majority of these deaths are caused by malaria, which is a disease caused by a one-cell animal parasite transmitted through mosquito bites. WHO estimates that between 300 million and 500 million cases of malaria occur each year and a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds.

Over the past several years, chikungunya and Zika viruses have emerged on a global scale as major human threats, causing epidemics in tropical countries with confirmed cases also reported in the United States. Current statistics provided by the Zika Foundation affirm that Latin America has experienced the highest number of Zika cases. However, the virus is spreading worldwide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,700 pregnant women across the United States have tested positive for Zika virus infection. In Florida alone, laboratory tests showed that 82 pregnant women were exposed to Zika virus. While the vast majority of infections occurred outside of the United States, some women were bitten and infected by mosquitoes from local populations. Zika virus likely will spread to other areas of the southern United States this mosquito season.

The Zika virus is transmitted through the bite of the mosquito Aedes aegypti; however, the virus is also sexually transmitted. If a pregnant woman is infected, the virus is transmitted to her fetus causing a severe congenital birth defect called microcephaly, which is associated with incomplete brain development. There are other health effects likely caused by Zika that scientists are working hard to identify.

The current WHO recommendation for preventing Zika transmission is to apply N, N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) or other chemical repellents multiple times throughout the day, or to wear clothing impregnated with a man-made insecticide. Exposure to such chemicals is highly undesirable to large segments of the population, especially pregnant women and children. Therefore, these individuals may be choosing to risk virus infection in order to limit exposure to chemicals. Additionally, the growing mosquito resistance to insecticides may significantly reduce the effectiveness of chemically impregnated textiles, placing the wearer unknowingly at risk.

Regular clothing can provide some level of protection, but a mosquito that is looking to feed on blood can easily probe through most consumer materials including T-shirts and jeans. “It would be easy to make a fabric bite proof by just laminating the surface, but then the fabric would lose its breathability and comfort,” said Dr. Emiel DenHartog, associate director, Textile Protection and Comfort Center at NC State’s College of Textiles. Currently available non-chemical vector protective textiles offer nearly continuous or monolithic barrier layers that trap heat and moisture within the garment and can be bulky and inflexible. This type of clothing is uncomfortable in hot, humid climates where the disease carrying mosquitoes thrive. Subsequently, such protective clothing’s primary market is for hunting, fishing, other outdoor sports and military use. For the everyday consumer, this is uncomfortably impractical and lacks fashion appeal. Camouflage may be popular in the woods, but it is not appropriate for routine, everyday wear and especially not for expectant mothers. There is an urgent, unmet need for novel chemical-free garments that provide safe protection from mosquitoes while providing outstanding comfort. Non-chemical bite-resistant clothing offers a safe, sustainable and accessible solution for protection from mosquito bites.

Developing A Solution

As part of a five-year collaboration between NC State’s College of Textiles, the College of Natural Resources and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, researchers are aggressively investigating textile-based solutions to protect people living and working in locations where mosquitoes and mosquito-borne illnesses are of concern. A multidisciplinary team consisting of entomologists, textile engineers, textile designers, comfort analysts and protection specialists is uniquely positioned for this challenge. The team has been collaborating on the development of a new generation of non-chemical vector protection, and has cultivated relationships with military and industry partners who are rapidly scaling up their technologies to move these critically needed garments to market.

Dr. Marian McCord, associate dean for Research in the College of Natural Resources, is leading the effort to develop these innovative protective fabrics and clothing. “Our research has brought together a unique group to study how mosquitoes interact with textile structures and humans,” said McCord. “We use our combined knowledge to design, model and prototype chemical-free fabrics that provide exceptional comfort and protection from mosquito bites.”

As part of the collaboration, Dr. Michael Roe and Dr. Charles Apperson raise and maintain colonies of mosquitoes and conduct four tiers of textile testing covering the range from small fabric swatches to whole garments tested in walk-in cages and under real-world field conditions. Along with their postgraduate students and technicians, they have developed a new laboratory assay system that facilitates rapid screening of prototype textiles and garments.

The fabrics are designed, developed and tested through collaboration with international fabric manufacturers and the textile and entomology labs at NC State. The goal is to find the delicate balance between offering a breathable, comfortable fabric at the same time as providing a defense against mosquitoes. Using CAD software and measurements of the mosquito’s needle-like mouthparts, known as the proboscis, the fabrics first are virtually modeled to prevent the mosquito’s proboscis from penetrating through the fabric to the skin. Fabric prototypes are constructed and then tested for bite resistance. The testing was designed determine the mosquito’s ability to penetrate the fabric after landing on its surface. Fabric color and the wearer’s body odor guide the mosquito to a potential victim. Mosquitoes are typically attracted to dark-colored fabrics. An open and breathable fabric allows more odor to permeate the fabric; however, after landing, mosquitoes get frustrated if they are unable to pierce the fabric. Repeated landings and probings indicate that mosquitoes are trying to find an area of the fabric that is vulnerable to penetration. The researchers used objective video analysis to study the interaction of mosquitoes with the textile surface. An examination of the mosquitoes for evidence of successful blood feeding coupled with the number of landings allows the research team to comparatively evaluate each fabric prototype. Fabrics found to have a high level of bite-resistance are then evaluated for comfort, including air and heat permeability, and moisture wicking. This information along with the bite-resistance data has allowed Dr. Kun Luan, a post-doctoral researcher assigned to the project, to develop a model that predicts the bite-resistance and comfort of varying fabric designs. The goal is to develop a multitude of fabrics including undergarments and outer garments that will suit a multitude of conditions.

The research has led to the development of a design system that can be used to produce a variety of fabrics that provide protection from insect bites for a wide consumer market. The design system can utilize a variety of fabric structures, including woven, knitted, and nonwoven materials, and may incorporate other non-textile materials or substances. Evaluation of fabric comfort is performed based on its end function. “These fabrics are designed to prevent the mosquito from penetrating all the way to the skin, but are porous enough to allow air permeability and moisture management,” DenHartog said. Garments are then made from these fabrics and constructed in such a way as to allow unhampered movement and a high range of motion. Areas of the body that may be more attractive to a mosquito — for example the ankles and behind the knees — as well as areas over which the fabric may deform — including elbows, knees, and a pregnant woman’s abdomen — can be provided additional protection based on the garment’s construction. Additional protection can be achieved with a double layer of fabric or by further increasing the density of the material in those areas of the garment.

Apperson said: “Women, especially expectant mothers, are looking for reliable and safe products that can protect them and their babies before, during and after pregnancy against the Zika virus, as well as other viruses transmitted by mosquitoes.”

“Now that we know the Zika virus causes severe birth defects and is associated with other adverse health effects, there is even greater need to protect people,” McCord said. “This is not just an issue for pregnant women. We need to protect women’s partners who can sexually transmit the virus as well. It’s also a security issue for our military troops being sent into disease endemic countries, and it is a workforce issue for employees who are outside in these areas. Economical, accessible and sustainable vector protective clothing that does not use chemical repellents may be much more appealing to many and would limit the need for application of repellents to exposed skin.”

As the testing and design continues, researchers have been developing bite-resistant fabrics and garments for commercial use within the parameters associated with specific target end users. “Because of the strength of our diverse team, we have been able to build a product line with innovative attributes and functionality that is ready for commercialization in a market that we believe is in dire need of a solution for preventing mosquito-transmitted diseases, such as Zika,” McCord said. According to Roe, the textile and garment products have been stringently tested in NC State’s entomology labs and proven better than 98-percent effective under extreme worst-case scenario mosquito exposure.

Commercializing The Technology

To take this ground-breaking research from the lab to market, the team has worked closely with the Office of Technology Commercialization and New Ventures (OTCNV) at NC State to identify opportunities and file patent applications. The OTCNV is continuing discussions with industry partners to maximize the commercial potential of the technology and to provide new options for protection against the Zika virus for millions of individuals in high-risk areas.

Presently NC State has a limited licensed commercial partner in Har-Son Inc., Midwest City, Okla. Its RynoSkin™ brand has a national reputation for providing bite-resistant clothing for the hunting, fishing, military, and police clothing markets. The company’s previous product could not protect against mosquito bites, but guided by mosquito and comfort testing at NC State, Har-Son has produced an undergarment that is 98-percent bite-resistant in walk-in cage tests. The product now is sold to national retailers under the name RynoSkin Total.

Vector Textiles

The NC State research team believes there are many markets available for mosquito protection garments, but feel maternity is the highest priority market. Currently, no companies are focusing solely on the production and marketing of mosquito bite resistant clothing for protecting expectant mothers from Zika virus without the use of chemical repellents. Consequently, the researchers have formed a company called Vector Textiles Inc., Raleigh, N.C. Vector Textiles will engage in research, product design and development, and real world testing of a multitude of fabrics that act as barriers for protection of people, animals and even plants from insect infestation. “At this point, with Zika virus of predominant public concern, we feel compelled to develop a maternity brand,” said Dr. Andre West. “Furthermore, we will have our product on the market shortly under the brand name Pro-Tex Maternity. We are using the crowd funding source Indigogo not only to raise funds to purchase materials and provide cash flow for manufacturing, but as a way to inform and notify the general public that there are alternative, safe and sustainable methods available for their personal protection from mosquitoes.”

The first maternity clothing line will be targeted at consumers in Latin America and the southern United States. The target consumers are women between the ages of 15 to 49 years of age, which represent approximately 170 million potential consumers. “Our products contain no insecticides and are comfortable for indoor and outdoor wear in hot, humid climates,” West said. “The first garments will come in two levels of protection, the first being innerwear that can be worn as an undergarment or a base-layer and will include leggings — some under the belly, some over the belly — perfect for comfort while pregnant, as well as fitted tops of different lengths. These can be worn underneath regular clothing to provide a high level of protection at the same time as allowing the consumer to wear their regular clothes, be protected and still feel comfortable.”

The second garment group will be a specifically designed outerwear maternity line that will offer effective protection against biting insects. In the future, Vector Textiles wants to integrate digital printing technologies to enhance the line with protective yet fashionable apparel products to meet consumers’ demands. The design of the products also will consider population diversity and consumer aesthetic demands following the latest fashion trends. Subsequent future design efforts will be oriented to daily wear and casual business apparel products.

Bite-resistant garments will be affordable in the U.S. market. According to West, predicted retail prices will be in line with currently available specialized maternity wear. Vector Textiles is exploring the Toms concept of improving lives and would also like part of the proceeds from retail sales to subsidize a basic product line of protective apparel for low-income women in the countries hardest hit by the Zika virus. “We hope in the near future that humanitarian organizations will be able to purchase in bulk for distribution to displaced populations at risk of mosquito-borne illnesses,” Roe said. “Doctors and midwives will be able to sell products through their clinics; governments could subsidize the clothing for lower-income women at risk. We are also working on reusable garments deployed for health workers.”

“We will continue to improve on the fabric and garment construction as well as the style of garments to make products not only for a greater good but for a multitude of different end uses,” McCord said. “Certain segments of the world population are more at risk right now, so that is where the focus is.”

Editor’s Note: Sarah Corica is the director of marketing and communications for NC State’s College of Natural Resources.
For more information about the research, contact Dr. Andre West at 919-515-6650; ajwest2@ncsu.edu.

May/June 2017

The 1,3-propanediol-producing joint venture between DuPont and Tate & Lyle recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

By Rachael S. Davis, Executive Editor

DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products Co. LLC was founded 10 years ago as a joint venture between Wilmington, Del.-based DuPont and London-based Tate & Lyle. The two companies opened a facility in Loudon, Tenn., to manufacture a breakthrough bio-based version of 1,3-propanediol. DuPont’s research and development experience paired perfectly with Tate & Lyle’s fermentation expertise in the joint venture and the company developed a proprietary process to produce 1,3-propanediol using plant-based feedstocks. This petroleum-free, sustainable and renewable source of 1,3-propanediol is used as an eco-friendly building block in a wide variety of consumer products. According to the company, “from ‘cradle-to-gate,’ its bio-based 1,3-propanediol produces 56-percent less greenhouse gas emissions and consumes 42-percent less nonrenewable energy” compared to its petroleum-based counterpart. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has certified its products as 100-percent bio-based under its BioPreferred™ program.

“This joint venture started as a revolutionary innovation project that applied the tools of modern biotechnology to make high-performance biomaterials in a much more sustainable way than traditional petro-chemistry,” stated Michael Saltzberg, global business director, biomaterials, DuPont Industrial Biosciences. “Its track record of success has inspired the academic and industrial science community around the world to invest in industrial biotech and is a case study of how to successfully innovate in this space.”

Bio-PDO™ is a key ingredient in DuPont™ Sorona® high-performance polymers, which find applications in apparel, carpet and automotive textiles. The company also markets the 1,3-propanediol under two brand names: Susterra®, which is used in polyurethanes, unsaturated polyester resins and heat-transfer fluids; and the preservative-boosting humectant Zemea®, which is found in cosmetics and personal care items, foods and flavors, pharmaceutical and dietary supplements, and laundry and household cleaning products.

“We’ve grown past what was previously imagined,” said Todd Sutton, president, DuPont Tate & Lyle. “The versatility of the product allows us to support the DuPont Sorona business as well as grow organically with Zemea and Susterra propanediol. The benefits of creating high-performing solutions in combination with renewability allows us to continue to expand our reach in the personal care, food, polyurethanes and heat transfer fluids markets as well as many other applications.”

10-Years Strong

To mark the 10-year anniversary, the company recently gathered customers and partners in Loudon. Guests heard from DuPont Tate & Lyle executives as well as partners who shared their stories and spoke about their partnerships with the company. Todd Sutton was the emcee during the presentations. Speakers included Michael Saltzberg; Steve Hurff, vice president, marketing and sales, DuPont Tate & Lyle; Marie Wheat, industry economist, USDA, BioPreferred Program; Jeff Meadows, senior vice president, Residential Carpet Sales, Mohawk Industries; Jeff Heverley, regional vice president, Interstate Chemical Co.; Steve Schnittger, global vice president, Microbiology, Estée Lauder; and Gerry Schlueter, plant manager, Tate & Lyle facility, Loudon. Attendees also toured the facility to see first-hand how the bio-based product is made.

During the event, the company also announced several new developments — a new hang tag program for the Susterra brand, a collaboration with Wichita, Kan.-based Invista’s CORDURA® brand and a new sunscreen product featuring Zemea.

The hang tag is first in a planned series of hang tags to help educate consumers about the components used in the products they buy. Three advantages of Susterra are noted on the hang tag. “With this first hang tag, companies using Susterra propanediol to manufacture high-performing, bio-based films, coatings or adhesives for the apparel and footwear industries will have a convenient and effective way to differentiate their products and address consumers’ traceability concerns,” said Laurie Kronenberg, global marketing director, DuPont Tate & Lyle Bio Products.

The Cordura brand is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017 and it was announced DuPont Tate & Lyle has paired with Cordura to develop performance fabrics featuring sustainable, bio-based materials. “We are thrilled to be working together with the Cordura brand, combining our unique capabilities and expertise, and building on our track records of delivering innovation to the marketplace,” said Kronenberg. “Together, we can revolutionize the future use of sustainable textiles by delivering innovative solutions that marry the legendary long-lasting durability of Cordura fabrics with the bio-based performance of Susterra propanediol-based membranes and coatings.”

“Our partnership with DuPont is a great example of bringing the best of two organizations together to create a first to market product and process that continues to demonstrate versatility and functionality in the global marketplace,” said Greg Wenndt, vice president and general manager, industrial starch and bioventures, Tate & Lyle. “We are proud of the success we’ve built together and share our congratulations with our DuPont partners and the DuPont Tate & Lyle teams around the world for achieving a decade of great work and continued innovation.”

May/June 2017

Committed to Industry 4.0, Lectra offers customers finely tuned integration between equipment, software and services.

By Rachael S. Davis, Executive Editor

Paris-based Lectra intends to hold its status as a world leader in integrated technology solutions — software, CAD/CAM equipment and associated services — and to that end, has embraced the concept of Industry 4.0, a term first coined by the German government as part of an initiative to enhance the country’s manufacturing competitiveness. In German-speaking areas, this revolution continues to be known as Industry 4.0 although other countries have given their own names to the concept.

Industry 4.0 refers to a current manufacturing trend of automation and data exchange, a fourth revolution in manufacturing. It builds on the third industrial revolution in computing and automation (See Figure 1) and includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things and cloud computing to create — in Industry 4.0 lingo — smart factories.

According to Wikipedia:

In his “Industry 4.0: Definition, Design Principles, Challenges, and the Future of Employment” article on Cleverism.com, Martin Lünendonk states:

Lectra’s Path

Lectra CEO Daniel Harari said the company decided to embrace Industry 4.0 and invest heavily in research and development several years ago during a time when the company was on the cusp of moving manufacturing to Asia. Harari stated he felt there had to be a way to make manufacturing in France profitable and keep jobs in France, and the company set about rethinking the way forward.

During the four-year period from 2013-2016, Lectra invested 86 million euros ($92 million) in research and development, which represents 9.4 percent of the company’s revenues. The company enriched its software offerings and developed leading-edge innovations for its technology.

In 2016, Lectra posted record financial results with revenues of 260 million euros ($277 million) — a 10-percent increase over 2015. Income from operations increased 18 percent, and net income was up 14 percent in 2016. So far, Harari feels very happy about the decision to keep manufacturing in France.

By deciding to embrace the idea of Industry 4.0 in its infancy, Harari believes Lectra is well positioned to help its customers be successful. The company spent three years gathering data from its more than 3,000 Industry 4.0 compatible machines in operation at some 2,000 production sites plus a further three years analyzing the data. The company has 40 years of experience in electronics; 10-years of experience in the industrial Internet of Things; a strong business expertise and a finely-tuned combination of machines, software and services — all components Harari believes are need to build an effective Industry 4.0 strategy.

“To meet these new challenges, our customers can depend on our software and equipment offer, already compatible with Industry 4.0 principles, our deep knowledge of the industrial Internet of Things since 2007, and our team’s expertise in specific industries,” Harari said. “Thanks to these strong fundamentals, we are massively enriching our offer, leveraging the latest technologies and integrating best practices to entrench Lectra’s position as an Industry 4.0 visionary.

“There is much debate around the world about exactly how big this industrial revolution will be,” Harari said. “I am on the same side as those who think it will be significant. It’s a real shake up of what we believe about industry. It enables new possibilities, new business models and new opportunities.”

Lectra manufactures three types of cutting machines — the Vector® aimed at the fashion and apparel industries, the FocusQuantum® for airbag manufacturing, and the Versalis® for leather cutting. These technologies are paired with Lectra’s integrated software offerings — Kaledo for design, Modaris pattern cutting software for product development, Diamino for optimized materials use in marker making, and Lectra Fashion PLM (product lifecycle management) — to provide customers with a complete smart factory concept.

Lectra’s Vector machine has been connected to the internet since 2007. Today, the machine has 180 sensors that are capable of implementing preventative and predictive maintenance. The sensors have led to a high 98-percent availability rate for the machine, according to Lectra.

The Vector machines installed around the globe are set up to communicate in real time with Lectra’s international call centers located in Bordeaux, Shanghai, Atlanta, Milan and Madrid. There, experts can immediately intervene to prevent machine downtime and production disruptions, which translates into cost and time savings for the manufacturer. “As we step into Industry 4.0, full integration between machines, software and services will translate into greater access to data in real time, which in turn will increase Lectra’s ability to provide greater insights from all points of production, from concept to design, sourcing, production and manufacturing to the final product,” said Daniella Ambrogi, vice president, marketing.

Strategic Roadmap 2017-19

Lectra has put together a roadmap for the next three years, which will drive the company’s development over the next decade.

To develop a long-term vision for the company and create this roadmap, Lectra studied the market and identified four major trends: millennials, who will transform the global economy; the digitalization of business, which will force companies to reinvent themselves; the emergence of industry 4.0; and China’s evolving economy anchored in consumption, added-value and productivity.

Lectra’s five objectives for 2017-19 are:

• To accelerate revenue growth;
• To accentuate the company’s technological leadership and leverage new technologies to enhance the value of its products and services;
• To strengthen its competitive position and long-term relationships with customers;
• To establish a Software as a Service (SaaS) business model to transform most of its revenues from new software licenses into recurring subscriptions; and
• To continue the company’s profitability and generate a high level of cash flow in order to self-finance internal and external developments.

To push forward the Industry 4.0 concept, Lectra plans to progressively roll out its first SaaS and cloud services to customers beginning in 2018 to optimize customers’ cutting room performance for each type of manufacturing and material.

“I would say data analysis and insights in real time are an integral part of Industry 4.0 and its automation breakthrough,” said Ambrogi. “Data analysis connects insights from various points in the system, speeding the decision-making process along the production chain. Lectra’s new Software as a Service offer is a key step in this direction. Capitalizing on a deeper level of data mining and insight, the new system will translate into even smarter and finely tuned integration between equipment, software and services. This combination converts into a steadier data flow, which no doubt will expand the company’s capabilities to help clients monitor and analyze the entire production process.”

Lectra will continue to invest heavily in technology with 10-percent of annual revenues earmarked for R&D over the next three years.

“Bringing increasing value to our customers, Lectra will increase the share of revenues dedicated to R&D to 10 percent for the period from 2017 to 2019, representing a rise of about 50 percent between 2016 and 2019,” said Harari. “This way, we can support our customers on their path towards operational excellence, indispensable if they are to succeed in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.”

Lectra Hosts Event At Atlanta Headquarters

Lectra recently held a seminar at its Atlanta facility titled, “A Cut Above: Achieve Excellence in the Cutting Room and Beyond.” The event featured presentations and a discussion with industry veterans to address current issues facing the apparel industry.

Daniella Ambrogi, vice president, Marketing, Lectra, gave a presentation entitled, “Four Mega Trends Influencing the Industry.” Highlighting the trends within technology, China, millennials and Industry 4.0, Ambrogi brought into focus Lectra’s strategy to leverage these trends as opportunities rather then reacting to them as threats. Ambrogi explained Lectra’s commitment to Industry 4.0 linking Lectra’s technology to the cloud and how this leads to enhanced visibility as “fashion enters the digital, integrated manufacturing era.”

The seminar included demonstrations of the Vector series cutting tables and their advanced interfaces in the context of “The 4.0 Cutting Room.”

— Jim Borneman

References:

1 Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Industry_4.0
2 Lünendonk, Martin (2017, January 16). Industry 4.0: Definition, Design Principles, Challenges, and the Future of Employment. Retrieved from: https://www.cleverism.com/ industry-4-0/

May/June 2017

Partnerships between industry and academia are growing and helping to shape the industry.

By Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Technical Editor

Today, most university’s research funding comes from Federal sources such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and Department of Energy. On average, it is estimated that U.S. industry spends more than $200 billion in research & development annually, but only spends 1 percent of its research budget in academia. This represents less than 6 percent of academic funding nationally.

This picture however, is about to change. There are many macro trends today that likely will lead to increased partnerships between academia and industry. These changes include:

Shifts in corporate research and development (R&D) strategies:

• Shift from basic to more applied research. There is an increased need for external suppliers of more basic research. Also, there is a reduction in time lines for all R&D projects, thereby leading companies to be less willing to support longer-term activities;
• Shift from corporate toward division-level, line-of-business research. Greater emphasis on shorter-term R&D projects — purpose driven research — more directly related to existing products and processes.

Increased competition for Federal funds:

• Increasing emphasis on larger, applied research, and deliverables;
• More emphasis on inter-disciplinary research aimed at solving grand challenges; and
• More emphasis on job creation and use-inspired research.

Before 1980, the government retained ownership of inventions made with federal funding. It is estimated however, that the government licensed less than 4 percent of all inventions it had acquired — more than 28,000 patents. It was also recognized that since many of the inventions were not advanced sufficiently for commercialization, often, the inventors participation in the process of scale up and transfer of the know-how was necessary¹. This led to the establishment of The Bayh-Dole Act of the 1980 which transformed the nation’s system of technology transfer by enabling universities to retain title to inventions including those funded by federal funds except that the government retains march-in rights.

It is not surprising therefore, that the start of a dialog between a university and a company always starts with a discussion of how one would manage intellectual property (IP) generated by the university as the result of the collaboration with industry.

There are many approaches to how universities manage IP, and these methods vary from institution to institution but the The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) is beginning to see the emergence of some basic guidelines that are common across many universities. And there now are rankings of universities in terms of patents issued and licensed including a recent report from the Milken Institute on technology transfer².

Raleigh-based North Carolina State University (NC State) ranks 9th overall among universities without a medical school with the following breakdown in individual categories³:

• patents issued: 9th;
• licensing issued: 4th’
• licensing income: 6th; and
• start-ups: 9th.

Many institutions including NC State have implemented policies and procedures that help take technology commercialization to the next level. This enables institutes such as NWI to develop strategies that are consistent with the mission of the institute but yet lead to economic development. As a state land grant institution, economic development is a must and a major driver for what NWI does. Economic development is the intersection of public policy and private commerce for job and wealth creation — and job creation is very critical to what NWI does. Economic development will lead to economic growth and naturally to job creation. Undoubtedly, these will lead to wealth creation as well.

NWI has evolved with multiple pillars that use different approaches in terms of establishing partnerships with industry. These pillars are based on the concept of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs).

Perhaps the best description of TRL is one recently coined by the department of energy shown in Figure 1.

One can add to this two areas where the valley of death resides — at the intersection of TRL 3 and 4, and again at the intersection of TRL 8 and 9.

Historically, most university research has focused in TRL 1 and 2 and patents are often filed when TRL 3 is reached at the proof of concept level. Technologies at this stage are far from being ready for commercialization. On the other hand, most industry research is now focusing more on TRL 6 to 8 leaving an innovation gap that can be problematic in the long run. TRL 3 and 4 technologies are needed to feed the product development of TRL 6 to 8.

To bridge this gap, the activities at NWI are broken into 5 distinct areas.

Pillar One:
Knowledge And Know-How Creation (Core Research)

In a shared atmosphere, NWI brings industry and academia together to work on grand challenges that fall in the TRL 1 and 2 levels. The current membership of the institute approaches 70 corporations as well as the NATICK soldier center. The work is basic and fundamental, yet relevant to the needs of the industries NWI serves. These also work as a platform for training doctoral students with the right set of skillsets that would help retrain the industry’s competitive advantage.

NWI’s industry engagement mission will ensure that the research performed ultimately is an enabler for product development. That product development is generally accomplished through private industry partners. Basic and applied research equals knowledge creation and that knowledge is made available through publications (by the students and faculty) and product development (in NWI’s case by industry sponsors/partners).

There are many academic models that measure impact, input and output and try to develop metrics by which institutions like NWI can operate and be impactful. But, the secret is real simple — NWI must ensure it brings value to all its stakeholders, yet remain relevant as an academic entity.

Knowledge creation must be truly focused on knowledge creation. In a shared environment of many diverse sets of interests, NWI has to focus on basic and fundamental, yet relevant, research that is focused on identifying solutions to specific knowledge gaps. While this may be a piece of the big picture, it can empower member companies to use such knowledge to innovate and perhaps create the next generation of innovative products that perhaps they could not have done alone. The experiential learning to which students get exposed prepares them for the corporate world. They learn the secrets of problem solving and how to breakdown a major problem into manageable pieces, formulating solutions that are based on science and engineering principles. Their solutions matter and do not end up in a closet. The training and mentoring offered by corporate members over the three to four years students spend at NWI as a doctoral student prepares them beyond what any university education alone would offer. In NWI’s short history, it has trained more than 170 Ph.D.s at the institute who have gone on to become leaders in various industry segments.

Core projects do not often lead to IP and that is no accident. NWI focuses on science and engineering and not product development as part of its shared research activities. In its history beginning in 1991, and even earlier when it existed as a small consortium, there have been no more than a few patents that have come about from the core research. In a shared environment, this is a key element in NWI’s success — it is fulfilling the mission of knowledge generation, training future leaders for the industry and beyond in a shared environment without creating any unnecessary conflicts and without being focused merely on IP generation, spin-offs and the like. This model works — competitors and the entire supply chain will come to the table when the research is focused on solving grand challenges that everyone faces. The IP will ultimately arise from how one would use the information generated from these research activities.

NWI’s core programs are strongly focused on knowledge generation only and that has become the hallmark of how the shared environment is managed. All members contribute to the agenda, the discussions, the identification and ultimately, the selection and stewardship of the core research agenda. This model works in a shared environment that must be relevant but non-competitive and only if we achieve operational excellence in:

• transparent communications; and
• collaborative environment.

Pillar Two: Knowledge Transfer — Work Force Development

This too is core to NWI’s mission. This is where the know-how created under pillar 1 can form the basis for training that would go from operator level training to executive level training. This type of training goes beyond normal training that universities are used to. Different skillsets often are required for training this level of workforce development in that the training often is a lot more hands on that normal lectures. This requires the right type of facilities and the right type of instructors who are well versed in the scientific knowledge, but also fully familiar with the emerging processes and technologies NWI employs. Lectures are collaboratively developed with industry partners to make sure that the content stays relevant. Content is not static; it must be updated regularly to take into account new learning, new developments and new process technologies.

NWI relies on its collaboration with not only industry, but also the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA). INDA manages NWI’s training programs and the two organizations collaboratively offer a series of courses that go from the basic to the most advanced. Interestingly, the content for these courses has come from the first pillar and there are no textbooks that can teach the materials covered in these courses.

Pillar Three: Testbed For Industry — Analytical and Fabrication

To advance technologies from proof of concept to TRL 6 or 7 requires both lab scale and pilot scale equipment. This equipment can be extensive and expensive to manage and maintain. However, in a shared environment, the costs can be managed. NWI has continued to build and update its facilities continuously since 2000, and today, has the most extensive set of lab scale and pilot scale equipment found anywhere. Critical to this is also knowledgeable staff who can not only operate the equipment but also help in defining and refining the processes for emerging materials.

This model works only if the facilities are state-of-the-art and maintained to industry standards.

Pillar Four: Help Create New Products, New Industries — Product Development

Product development requires IP management that is both industry friendly and flexible, or it will not work.

NWI calls these efforts non-shared and non-core and takes on the role of helping industry partners develop new products or processes. This is where the institute uses its know-how and extensive capabilities to advance technologies from TRL 3 or 4 to TLR 6 or 7.

Non-core activities are carried out typically for a specific sponsor outside of the core activities and the results are only shared with the sponsor.

NWI also considers non-core activities important in that they help with the bigger role the institute can play in terms of technical assistance provided to corporations, economic development and in job creation. NWI instituted a program dealing with such activities some time ago that helps translate science into reality and is designed to move technology towards market using a decision making process based on sound stage-gate processes.

The institute’s guiding principals are that such programs must be transformative in that the new product or activity:

• challenges what is possible;
• disrupts existing learning curves; and
• leaps beyond today’s technologies.

Therefore, NWI does not engage in reverse engineering or helping to create a me-too product. In the last 10 plus years, the institute has been quite successful at creating some new products and processes, and these developments have led to a number of patents and commercial products. These activities are driven towards using NWI’s know-how and the knowledge gained over the years to help develop a new product or process and, inevitably, these activities lead to patents. The net result is that NWI has many more patents arising from non-core research programs sponsored by individual companies. And, the licensing policies have allowed the institute to transfer these patents to industry partners.

Pillar Five: Help Commercialize New Products — Product Incubation

The nonwoven industry eco system is built around large volumes to control costs. This means that the industry is highly capital intensive and therefore, not designed for dealing with small volume or niche products … yet. Therefore, many of the novel ideas that would result in new products or new applications often do not get commercialized.

NWI formed a first of its kind manufacturing incubator called LINC LLC. The challenge with commercializing any new technology is that often, new manufacturing assets are required and capital expenditures are difficult to justify in the absence of significant proven market potential.

For new products made from nonwovens, often, short runs are not possible on large nonwovens manufacturing assets. A manufacturing incubator will allow new products to be introduced into the marketplace before significant investment is required from an industrial partner.

This becomes even more critical for new products that require specialized equipment or components. In almost all cases, no manufacturing entity can initially produce the product and, therefore, there exists a natural barrier to commercialization. LINC was established to help facilitate the initial phase of introduction and testing of the products by limited manufacturing of the products for the companies interested in licensing the technologies developed at NWI. Figure 2 summarizes NWI’s activities.

NWI Outlook

The institute’s core programs are focused on knowledge creation and not on IP, and NWI believes that its role in the core programs is to enable members to learn, find solutions to common and often very complex problems, and provide the tools necessary that would enable member companies to innovate.

In non-core activities designed around specific needs for one company, NWI can, and has, created new products — these however, NWI believes, do not, and should not, create any conflicts in that such products are new and while they might replace a product in another field, they bring possible new opportunities to the nonwovens industry. NWI views these activities as being synergistic.

References:

1 http://www.iphandbook.org

2 http://www.milkeninstitute.org/publications/view/856

3 https://news.ncsu.edu/2017/04/nc-state-makes-top-25-for-technology-transfer/

May/June 2017