Gaston County commissioners are expected to green light the construction of a one-of-a-kind fiber prototyping center at Gaston College’s Kimbrell Campus in Belmont later this month.
Commissioners recently agreed to vote on a transfer of $5.3 million Gaston County CARES Act funding to Gaston College for the college’s proposed Fiber Innovation Center – a state-of-the-art addition to Gaston College’s Textile Technology Center to help test and develop new fiber products for the center s clients.
Such a center would develop and test products - such as personal protective equipment commonly used to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and “smart textiles” for the defense industry - made with a number of innovative, engineered properties, such as ceramics, metals, composites and electronic materials, among many others.