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Expanding into new markets (without losing your shirt)
January 1st, 2024
Employees at AR Tech working on multilayered insulative fabric assemblies for a space launch vehicle. Image: AR Tech In today’s volatile economic climate—with higher interest rates and difficulty hiring workers—the decision on how, when or even whether a company should expand into a new market can be incredibly challenging. However, within this industry, where most […]
Industry and academia: Partners in innovation
September 1st, 2021
UMass Lowell engineering technician Patrick Casey prepares a mask to be tested for penetration by aerosolized particles, while Cheryl Gomes, Fabric Discovery Center technical program manager, looks on. During the pandemic, the center acquired testing equipment and worked with for-profit companies to improve their personal protective equipment (PPE) products before trying to obtain government certification. […]
AR Tech supports U.S. Space Force launch
August 1st, 2021
Multilayer insulation (MLI) is composed of 12 layers of thin sheets and is used on the spacecraft of AR Tech’s customers. A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket launched in April from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with AR Tech supporting the mission with its multilayer and single-layer insulation blankets. Based in […]
A giant leap for technical textiles
July 1st, 2021
The International Achievement Awards (IAAs) began in 1946 as a photo contest for awning and canopy projects, and 75 years later, the program continues to honor exceptional work in those fields. But as we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the IAAs in 2021, we can marvel at the wide range of projects that use specialty […]
Breakthroughs in advanced textiles: New bio yarn, less toxic water repellent, firefighting gear for women, and more
August 1st, 2020
Researchers have created a bio yarn from human cells that can be braided, knitted or woven into medical devices or scaffolds, which can be integrated into the body without eliciting an immune reaction. It has been used to create a vascular graft, woven on a circular loom. New bio yarn shows breakthrough possibilities Researchers working […]
IFAI Expo 2019: Growth through diversification
October 2nd, 2019
Bud Weisbart, vice president of AR Tech, Fontana, Calif., led the advanced textiles conference session “Growing through diversification into technical markets: from trash covers and truck covers to ground support and flight hardware,” presented Tuesday, Oct. 1, at IFAI Expo 2019 in Orlando, Fla. The session explored how diversification based on core competencies—capabilities or advantages […]