UMass Lowell engineers are creating new, cost-effective sensor-laden textiles that can be used to monitor the structural health of vital infrastructures across the country.

NextFlex has awarded three projects with a total contract value of $4.4 million to researchers from the UMass Lowell Nanomanufacturing Center, defense contractor Raytheon IDS and SI2 Technologies.

Craig Armiento, director of the Printed Electronics Research Collaborative, likens the emerging field of 3-D printing for electronics to the Wild, Wild West.

UMass Lowell's new Fabric Discovery Center will support research and development of new technologies that will revolutionize the way fabrics are made.