The Shima Seiki Haute Tech Lab (HTL) was founded with the ExCITe Center in 2012 as a transdisciplinary research initiative following the signing of a groundbreaking, million-dollar gift from Shima Seiki USA. The HTL grew rapidly and evolved into the Center for Functional Fabrics (CFF), providing an outstanding example of the ExCITe Center’s model for academic incubation.

In April 2019, the Center for Functional Fabrics team spun out from their previous home here at ExCITe to a newly renovated facility at 3101 Market Street. This enabled expansion from approximately 2,000 to 10,000+ square feet, integrating and consolidating activities spanning research, design, fabrication, and testing.

The new space is located within Schuylkill Yards, the innovation district developing adjacent to Amtrak’s 30th Street Station and Drexel. This new facility also houses the Pennsylvania Fabric Discovery Center (PA FDC), a regional hub that facilitates advanced textile manufacturing in Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic Region. It is both business and university-facing and provides easy access for industry, academia, and government. Learn More

Center for Functional Fabrics