NWI
Fighting COVID-19 with Nonwovens – #Coronafighters
The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) at North Carolina State University is proactively responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our aim is to fully leverage and fortify our facilities to produce facemasks that are desperately needed in the coronavirus fight. Join the fight and DONATE NOW.
The challenge in the USA and, indeed, the world is a shortage of both the most critical component – the meltblown nonwoven filtration media – and of the converting capacity to make a facemask.
Thus, with the full support of NC State, NWI is dedicating its meltblown and spunbond nonwoven making facilities and expertise to produce specially designed fabrics that can be delivered to USA manufacturers to assemble facemasks, and is also investing in new converting equipment to locally assemble ready-to-use facemasks for healthcare workers, and for public use. To learn more, please see the detailed description of facemask technologies and products by Dr. Behnam Pourdeyhimi, NWI Executive Director.
NWI is proud to be making a big impact in this crisis. There are many opportunities for collaborators, partners, suppliers, and customers to engage in this fight by contributing to the needs for money, equipment, and materials as captured below.
What’s Needed and How You and Your Company Can Help
| Need Area | What’s Needed | Impact |
| Cash Donation (online, check, wire transfer) | Investment support to scale-up nonwoven production, invest in new converting equipment, and increase capacity. | Accelerate time to full production of affordable facemasks that make a difference. |
| Equipment & Materials Donation | Equipment for production and maintenance, e.g., Reicofil Spare Parts for Production, nonwoven belts, SB and MB resins (polypropylene & PLA), forklifts, and product handling and storage equipment. | Ensures production reliability and resin supply for production. |
Join the Fight: Here’s How To Donate Money, Equipment, and Materials
NWI welcomes the contributions of partners through donations, and a new Nonwovens Community Forward Fund (NWCFF) makes it easy to contribute.
If you have any questions, please contact nonwovens@ncsu.edu or Lorena McLaren, Executive Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations as lnmclare@ncsu.edu.
How Will This Impact Normal Operations and Services at NWI During the Crisis?
NWI is concentrating efforts on forming filter media and facemasks to help in the current crisis. The Spring IAB Meeting will be held virtually to help keep student research on track. Access to labs is restricted in this period:
- Meltblown and Spunbond Labs: Dedicated to producing filter media for facemasks.
- Analytical Lab: Temporarily closed to focus on filtration media production.
- Staple/Carding Lab: Temporarily closed to focus on filtration media production.
- Fiber Science Lab: Temporarily closed to focus on filtration media production.
Labs and full service will resume when possible. We look forward to continuing to serve your needs in the future.
Short Courses
Fiber and Filament Extrusion
April 21 - April 23Intermediate Nonwovens Training Course
July 21 - July 24Fabric Property Development and Characterization
October 6 - October 9
Research
Outreach
Education
The Nonwovens Institute (NWI) is the world’s first accredited academic program for the interdisciplinary field of engineered fabrics. Based at the Centennial Campus of NC State University in Raleigh, the NWI is an innovative global partnership between industry, government and academe.
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