Nonwovens help North Carolina economy

Since 2003, 226 companies making synthetic fabrics have moved to or expanded in North Carolina, in part because of research technologies that are creating nonwoven fabrics for the filtration and healthcare markets. The College of Textiles at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C., is one of the bright spots, as researchers develop new fibers from corn, oyster shells and crude oil—and companies such as BSN Medical, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Johnson & Johnson and 3M manufacture the new materials at high speeds for a thriving healthcare products market. “The strategic and modern plan is to look at critical areas for improving new product development,” says Behnam Pourdeyhimi, associate dean at the College of Textiles, “including medical and hygiene products, wipes, transportation and filtration dealing with clean air, clean water and safe blood.” For more details, visit www.tx.ncsu.edu.