An associate Curtain Fabrics Suppliers in Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, founder of the Shima Seiki Haute Tech Lab at ExCITe and director of Drexel’s Center For Functional Fabrics.” Both product platforms, developed through AFFOA’s industry partners and prototyping network, are enabled by advanced fabrics made in America. These partnerships will accelerate the development of new products and manufacturing processes by established companies, startups and entrepreneurs in the functional fabric space.AFFOA launched a digitally connected, programmable backpack as one of its first advanced fabric projects this summer.PHILADELPHIA — November 14, 2017 — The Department of Defense’s effort to bring America to the forefront of textile technology manufacturing and innovation is gaining a strategic foothold in the region. It will provide an end-to-end advanced manufacturing facility capable of developing functional fabric prototypes for pilot-stage production. Workforce training and startup incubation are important elements of the Center’s mission. Drexel University, in collaboration with DoD-supported Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), is establishing a statewide center that will help companies, entrepreneurs and innovators take their advanced-textile concepts from prototype to product and prepare America’s workforce for the quality jobs this growing sector is generating. “