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Blanton Godfrey, Dean
College of Textiles
North Carolina State University

Welcome to this issue of the Journal of Textile and Apparel Technology and Management. In this issue, “The New World of Textiles,” you will find a special focus on product, technology and business innovation --- areas of keen interest to our readership, given today’s global competitive marketplace. I invite you to explore the research papers as well as the industry and education-related articles to discover more about the complexity of textiles – what textiles are and can be.

Dr. A. Blanton Godfrey
Dean of the College of Textiles

The College of Textiles is an exciting place! Our faculty and students are actively involved in cutting-edge teaching and research areas, and our freshman class enrollment this fall is our largest class since the mid-1990’s. Our new Textile and Apparel Management program was launched Fall 2005 with three new concentrations: Fashion Development and Product Management, Textile Brand Management and Marketing, and Textile Supply Chain Management. Our Management faculty worked closely with industry to develop a curriculum that truly meets the needs of the global textile complex, and our students are excited about the many opportunities. Other College educational programs are also profiled, and offer exciting educational programs in the areas of Textile Technology, Textile Engineering, and Polymer and Color Chemistry.

Our faculty and graduate students are involved in research activities, examining the many challenges that face our industry and consumers. These include research in the design and development of various textile products (with end uses in apparel, home textiles, medical textiles, nonwovens, industry/technical, and transportation textiles) and technologies. Accompanying this product and technology research is the important business management and strategy research, imperative information as companies retain their competitive edge in today’s (and tomorrow’s) business environment. The promise and impact of new products, technologies, and business strategies is at the heart of our teaching and research programs in the College!

Our new Executive-in-Residence program brings the industry’s leaders to the College of Textiles, to share with our students and faculty. We invite you to share this issue with others in your organization, and be inspired yourself to explore products, technologies, and business strategies in new ways. Enjoy reading!