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New training hub to focus on high-tech textiles

Manufacture New York CEO Bob Bland believes learning new technology will spur a manufacturing revolution in New York City.   A new training center at Manufacturing New York is designed to revitalize New York City's dwindling manufacturing industry

Under a nationwide initiative to boost innovation, a new training hub will launch in a Brooklyn fashion design and production incubator.

In a partnership with MIT and the Fashion Institute of Technology, Manufacture New York will host training and apprenticeship programs at Liberty View Industrial Plaza in Sunset Park. The center will provide skill-based training and at least 30 registered apprenticeship programs in all areas of advanced apparel manufacturing, such as digital textile printing and pattern making. There are also plans to potentially include interactive online classes and virtual-reality training.

"The idea is to bridge the gap between technology and the commercialization of products made of functional fabrics," said Fashion Institute of Technology President Dr. Joyce Brown.

Manufacture New York is part of the Obama administration's Revolutionary Fibers & Textile Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which recently received a $75 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Defense. The institute creates training facilities across the country that will educate workers on how to develop and produce commercial and military products to better protect soldiers in combat. 

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