Advanced Textiles Expo 2026

Advancing the Defense & Aerospace Textiles Workforce: TACTIC (Texas Advanced Certificate in Textiles for Innovation and Composites) (Room Campfire A, Booth 1948)

04 Nov 26
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM

Tracks: Show Floor Education

Speaker(s): Leslie Browning-Samoni, Professor, Texas Christian University; Robert Finnegan, Head of Education and Workforce, Manufacturing USA Innovation Institute: Advanced Functional Fabrics of America; Charles Freeman, Department Chair for Fashion and Design and Director of Research and Creative Scholarship, Texas Christian University; Erin Tillery, Postdoc Fellow, Texas Christian University

What does it take to prepare the next generation of professionals to work across textiles, materials science, and engineering? Be among the first to experience the launch of TACTIC, an interactive workforce-development program that prepares learners to understand advanced textiles within larger engineering systems. Through hands-on program exploration and short workplace challenges, participants will investigate mission functions, technical requirements, material decisions, evidence, documentation, and potential failure. This show-floor session will demonstrate how TACTIC combines technical content, interactive learning, and realistic simulations to help develop a more systems-aware and collaborative advanced-textiles workforce.