$75M Defense Department project aims to turn Drexel into wearable-tech hub

Building off the work of Drexel’s Shima Seiki Haute Technology Lab, the U.S. Department of Defense has chosen the university as a mid-Atlantic hub for wearable tech.
As part of a five-year, $75 million federal project of the White House’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, Drexel will launch a smart textile research center that local companies and universities can use for research and development, as well as workforce training.
Drexel, along with MIT and the University of Central Florida, will all receive funding for the initiative. Drexel expects to receive funding in the tens of millions, said Drexel’s Dr. Aleister Saunders, vice provost for research, who put the proposal together.
The state and the city are also backing the center in hopes that the center will create jobs: Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partners has committed $2 million over the next five years, while Philadelphia is investing $500,000.
It’s another notch in Drexel’s belt for the university’s ambitious innovation aspirations. Last month, it announced a 20-year, $3.5 billion initiative to develop the area next to 30th Street Station into “Schuylkill Yards,” a mix of residential, educational and corporate space. The school will initially open these federally-backed manufacturing centers in the ExCITe Center and other locations around campus but plans to open some in the Schuylkill Yards, too, as the buildings begin rise.
Drexel is no stranger to receiving federal dollars for research and training. Last year, the U.S. Army Reserve named Drexel a cybersecurity training center. The Federal Aviation Administration also chose Drexel as one of 13 universities to help the government develop regulations around drones.