Impact
Objective
Create a statewide innovation pipeline for advancing wearable technologies and textiles for military personnel.
Approach
Through the NC Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP), we led market assessment, product innovation, and commercialization support for startups across the state to scale their businesses and wearable textile inventions.
Impact
These efforts contribute to military readiness, stimulate North Carolina’s economy with job opportunities, and help establish a defense manufacturing ecosystem.
North Carolina is home to one of the largest active-duty military populations, anchored by prominent military bases, including Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune. The state also serves as a major innovation pipeline, with research and technology development happening in the Research Triangle and at nearby universities. The technology and military defense sectors are major drivers of North Carolina’s economy, jointly contributing a combined approximately $165 billion annually to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Leveraging North Carolina’s military presence and innovation ecosystem, as well as the state’s robust textile industry, the Department of War’s (DoW) Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) selected North Carolina as one of five states across the nation to receive a grant under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP) in 2021. NC State University leads the North Carolina program, with the goal of strengthening the textile defense manufacturing industrial base through statewide partnerships, workforce development, research, and support to small businesses.
NC DMCSP initiatives:
- Advance textiles and wearable technologies for the military
- Improve warfighter health, performance, survivability, and mobility
RTI Partners With NC State as a Member of the NC DMCSP Consortium
NC DMCSP is a multi-organization consortium with more than 20 partnerships across the state, with RTI leading the effort for market assessment, product innovation, and commercialization support. We manage the product innovation pipeline, ensuring that smart textile and wearable products move toward real-world deployment while addressing warfighter needs.
In a complementary effort, the North Carolina Center for Optimizing Military Performance (NC-COMP) consortium, led by RTI, also contributes to NC DMCSP by conducting tests on wearables with active-duty military personnel at Fort Bragg.
RTI’s Innovation and Commercialization Support Case Studies
As of April 2026, several North Carolina-based startups have successfully advanced their wearable textile innovations with the help of RTI through NC DMCSP.
DotBliss: A wearable technology startup that specializes in interactive textile-based sensor arrays and haptic feedback devices that embed electronic technology into smart fabrics. DotBliss won more than $5 million in DoW funding, hired more staff, and opened laboratory space in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Mars Materials: A carbon-utilization startup that specializes in turning captured CO2 into a precursor to carbon fiber which is used as reinforcement to composite materials in layers of unidirectional strands or woven fabrics. Mars Materials successfully won Navy SBIR Phase I funding and worked with NC State to validate its material for carbon fiber production.
Rock Spring Bio: A biotechnology company founded in 2024 that provides chem-bio sensing and remediation technology. Rock Spring Bio successfully won an NCInnovation grant and founded AquaVest LLC to develop a marine antifouling coating, which repels dirt, liquids, and chemicals on uniforms.
Beyond market assessment and product innovation support, RTI provides the facilities and engineering expertise to advance startup technologies toward commercialization. We specialize in bridging the gap between prototype and commercialization. Our RTI Pilot Xcelerator, a custom pilot facility located in the Research Triangle Park, has the space and utilities to scale processes to develop polymers for recycled or biobased fibers as well as chemicals and materials that defeat chemical and biological threats.
The Future of NC DMCSP
The funding period of the DoW program ends in August 2026; however, NC State will continue to support the ecosystem through its internal efforts. The statewide initiative has established a defense manufacturing ecosystem that accelerates smart textiles and wearable technology innovation through a prototype-to-commercialization pipeline. These efforts not only contribute to advanced military readiness—they also stimulate North Carolina’s economy by providing more jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. As new technologies are developed to support warfighters, RTI looks forward to collaborating and ensuring innovation is translated into meaningful real-world applications.
