Fiber & Specialty Textiles Research (FASTR )

A Premier Hub for Advanced Textile Solutions and Workforce Development at the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures & Composites Center

Services & Capabilities Workforce Development Industry Opportunities

Do it Better, do it FASTR

The FASTR Lab is a state-of-the-art research and development facility dedicated to advancing the frontiers of functional fabrics. As a vital component of the ASCC, FASTR aligns seamlessly with the national imperative to innovate in advanced manufacturing, bolster national security, and cultivate a highly skilled workforce. Our vertically-integrated research approach, spanning raw materials to finished fabrics, uniquely positions us to enhance U.S. textile manufacturing capabilities and improve global competitiveness.

Industries we service:

  • Defense modernization
  • Maritime
  • Hypersonic
  • Space and Aerospace
  • Automotive
  • Performance Wearables

Dedicated Lab Space

Patents Secured

Global Partners

For Industry: Partnering for Textile Innovation

Accelerate Your Innovation

We bridge the gap from concept to commercialization. Our comprehensive resources help de-risk new technologies, accelerate prototyping, and scale manufacturing processes efficiently.

  • Technology Advancement: Drive your innovations forward, from early development to successful market entry.
  • Pilot Production: Validate your manufacturing processes using our advanced extrusion, weaving, knitting, and specialized coating lines, minimizing your upfront investment.
  • Expert Collaboration: Access FASTR's specialists and our extensive network of industry partners and suppliers.
  • Versatile Applications: Explore new opportunities in both commercial and defense sectors, from smart wearables and health monitoring to advanced materials for construction, automotive, and high-performance gear.
  • Problem Solving: Collaborate with us to overcome manufacturing challenges, enhancing your capabilities and global competitiveness.
  • Sustainable Solutions: Lead with environmental responsibility through our unique capabilities in upcycling industrial and post-consumer textile waste into valuable new materials.

Experience the Future with Advanced Textiles

Our innovations directly translate into tangible benefits, offering enhanced protection, improved functionality, and sustainable solutions that redefine performance and comfort for end-users.

  • Smarter Products: Develop uniforms that regulate temperature and detect threats, or athletic wear that monitors vital signs and optimizes performance.
  • Durable Infrastructure: Create advanced textiles that reinforce roads, bridges, and dams, contributing to safer, more resilient infrastructure.
  • New Possibilities: Discover energy-harvesting textiles, color-changing fabrics, and seamless integration of electronics for cutting-edge wearable technology and IoT applications.

    At FASTR, we're more than a lab—we're your partner in innovation solutions.
Contact us to partner Services & Capabilities

Workforce Development & Student Opportunities

Students first.

At the FASTR Lab, we are dedicated to cultivating the next generation of innovators and skilled professionals in advanced manufacturing. Our hands-on learning environment inspires a passion for fiber science and engineering, preparing individuals to lead in a technology-driven world.

Workforce Development at the ASCC

  • Practical & Advanced Skills: Gain invaluable hands-on experience with industrial-grade equipment for fiber creation, textile manufacturing, and materials testing. Develop expertise in cutting-edge areas like 3D weaving, knitting, electrospinning, and advanced coating techniques.
  • Problem-Solving Focus: Engage in real-world research challenges that enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills within interdisciplinary teams.
  • Clear Career Pathways: Explore diverse opportunities within the rapidly growing advanced textiles and composites industries, including defense, medical, and consumer markets.
  • Empowering Environment: Our commitment to mentorship, respect, and empowerment ensures a dynamic space where scientific and creative ideas flourish, building a skilled workforce ready to contribute to a more prosperous and sustainable future.
Micro-Credentials
Student Positions
Maine College Of Engineering And Computing

Services & Capabilities

FASTR AT YOUR SERVICE AT f fpr on

At the FASTR Lab, we are your vertically-integrated partner for advanced textile innovation. From novel fiber and fabric development to functional coatings and rigorous testing, we offer comprehensive services that accelerate technology maturation, de-risk manufacturing challenges, and support large-scale adoption of new solutions. Leveraging our cutting-edge capabilities in smart and sustainable materials, we deliver revolutionary textile solutions that enhance performance, protection, and quality of life across diverse applications.

R&D | Consulting | Industry Training | Scale-Up | Risk Mitigation | Material Testing

CCI Evergreen II Dobby Loom

  • Industrial prototype loom for short runs of novel fibers and yarns.
  • Capable of weaving in grouped textured patterns.
  • Features a rapier shuttle system and 3 beams.
  • Computer-controlled design with 20 harnesses and 2 Leno harnesses.
  • Equipped with either 4 or 8 weft selectors.
  • Includes an optional zero-twist weft insertion system for materials like carbon fiber and other materials for composite products.
  • Max warp length is 3.6 meters, with fabric widths up to 60 cm (23.6 inches).

Optima 3D Jacquard Shuttle Loom

  • Designed for 3D fabric architectures and pre-forms, contributing to advanced manufacturing.
  • Utilizes a caterpillar take-up system with manual tension clamps.
  • Features 4 shuttles with variable insertion height for different material thicknesses.
  • Equipped with reeds for variable dents and 2304 individually controlled heddles.
  • Enables seamless, tubular, and 3-Dimensional weaving.
  • Fabric parameters include a maximum thickness of 10 cm, maximum speed of 40 rpm, "infinite" length, maximum width of 24 inches, and maximum EPI of 96.

LeClerc Diana Hand Loom

  • Prototype loom for short runs of novel fibers and yarns, facilitating rapid innovation.
  • Supports fabric widths up to 60 cm (23.6 inches).
  • Features 16 harnesses and computer-controlled design.
  • Includes 2 warp beams for double-layered fabrics.

Stoll 3D Knitting Machine (Model ADF 530)

  • Flatbed machine capable of knitting small prototypes and larger, fully-fashioned shapes, essential for developing high-performance textiles.
  • A 14-gauge double-bed machine with 699 individually programmable needles.
  • Capable of creating ribs, tubular fabrics, spacer fabrics, and other double-bed knit constructions, including seamless constructions, and wire and composite inlays.
  • Supports a max width of 58 inches and unlimited length.
  • Features 16 yarn feeder positions and M1 design software.

Hills Bicomponent Fiber Extruder

  • Features two hoppers and extruders for independent feeding of polymer systems.
  • Includes a melt pump for uniform filament diameter and a draw stand with heated rolls for in-line fiber conditioning.
  • Comes with 19-filament dies of various geometries (round, side-by-side, concentric, islands-in-the-sea), with custom options available for novel fiber technology.
  • An extruder barrel rated to 500 bar with a 16 mm screw size, and throughput from 0.05 to 1 kg for each extruder.
  • A winder ensures consistent linear density yarn take-up.

Elmarco Nanospider Electro-Spinner

  • Equipped with a high-precision syringe pump and free surface (wire-coated) electro-spinning capabilities.
  • Roll-to-roll collector with a max width of 300mm and max speed of 5000mm/min.
  • Features air temperature and humidity control (20-30°C, 20-40% RH).
  • Includes a camera (1920x1200px) for viewing spun jet formation.
  • Adjustable parameters include flow rate, voltage, and concentration of polymers, plasticizers, dopants, and volume.
  • Capabable of un-oriented fiber mat creation for specialized membranes with shielding effects or imbedded sensors.
  • Batch volume 10-50 ml and mean fiber diameter 100 nm ± 20%.

Domobio 4A (melt electro writing; melt, solution, or gel electrospinning)

  • High precision syringe pump for electrospinning.
  • Print volume of 100x100x130 mm.
  • Operates with a voltage range of 0 to +30 kV, and temperature/humidity control (15-50 C, 20-80% humidity).
  • Features 4 printheads and a print resolution of x and y - 1.25 mm, z -10 mm.

Thermo Fisher Process 11 twin screw compounder with pelletizer and 3D filament extruder

  • Throughput range from 20 g/h to 2.5 kg/h.
  • Segmented screw design with removable top half barrel.
  • Works with polymers, additives, and adhesives, with an optional water bath.

Agteks DirecTwist 2C6

  • Provides yarn twisting, cording, and covering capabilities for single or multi-yarns.
  • Includes a programmable elastane feeder and a durable drum for coated and composite yarns.
  • Offers a max twist speed of 14,000 twist/min, max twist value of 2,000 twist/meter, and production speed of 200 meters/min.

Creel

  • Tensioned spools of yarn fed into the 3D weaving machine.
  • Maximum capacity of 2304 spools.
  • Running rate varies per project.

Bobbin Winder

  • Three positions with adjustable independent speed for different input yarns.

CCI Warping Machine

  • Features a warp beam of 3.6 meters in length.
  • Supports up to 24 colors, dispersing one cone (color or quality) at a time.
  • Includes an optional zero-twist feeding system for materials like carbon fiber, glass, or wire.
  • Class 1000 Clean Room: A controlled environment for sensitive processes.
  • Four-Station Thin Film Coating: Produces functional materials like semiconductors and durable, lightweight, washable coatings on wires, with applications in energy harvesting (Organic Photovoltaic wire) and responsive materials (liquid crystal color-changing wire).

Instron 68SC-5

  • Equipped with 5N-5kN load cells and pneumatic and spring grips.
  • Used for tensile testing of single fiber, yarn, and fabric.

Rhode & Schwarz ZNL20 Vector Network Analyzer (VNA)

  • Capabable of measuring from 30 MHz to 20 GHz.
  • Includes a fixture for testing shielding effectiveness of planar materials.

Newport Sol3A Solar Testing

  • Provides up to one sun of illumination, UV, and thermal exposure testing.
  • Features a 6x6 illumination area and is used for OPV efficiency analysis.

Biolin Scientific Force Tensiometer Sigma 700

  • Measures surface energy for filaments, powders, and liquid surface tension.

Data Physics OCA-25 Goniometer

  • Used for sessile drop analysis on solid surfaces with polymer melt to assess surface energy of plastics.

Keyence Digital Microscope

  • Offers magnification from 30x to 5000x, with a polarized lens.
  • Capabable of 2D stitching and 3D composition stacking.

Cube Scanning Electron Microscope (EOI) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS)

  • Provides 5 nm resolution at 30kV for visual analysis (SEM) and elemental analysis.

C-Therm Trident

  • Measures thermal conductivity of bulk plastics.

Gottfert RG50

  • Used for capillary rheometry.

DHR, Ares

  • Used for shear rheometry.

Thermal Analysis Equipment (DSC, TMA, DMA, TGA)

  • Provides various thermal analysis capabilities.

AFM and Optical Microscopy

  • Used for visual analysis.
Contact Us

Impact & Applications

The innovations emerging from FASTR have the potential for widespread impact across many industries and in daily life.

Our work contributes to:

  • Enhanced Performance & Protection: We develop textiles that offer superior protection in challenging environments, improve safety for professionals, and boost performance for athletes through advanced materials.
  • Smart & Adaptive Materials: Our creations include fabrics that can monitor health, regulate temperature, change color, or even generate energy, leading to smarter apparel and highly functional products that respond to their environment.
  • Sustainable Solutions: We champion environmental stewardship by transforming textile waste into valuable new resources, promoting circular economy principles within the industry.
  • Advanced Infrastructure: Our durable textiles reinforce critical infrastructure like roads, bridges, and dams, contributing to their longevity and safety.

Contact

Lynn Wagner | Senior Research Textile Manager, FASTR Lab | Lynn.Wagner@composites.maine.edu

Contact the ASCC