Instead of spending spring break on a beach, textiles students from North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles and West Virginia University participated in the inaugural Spring Break Textiles Trek, visiting nearby companies for tours and networking—and seeing textile manufacturing on a real-world scale.
The idea and sponsorship for the event came from Amy Bircher Bruyn, owner of MMI Textiles, with plans taking shape last summer. She is also a past chairman of the board of Advanced Textiles Association.
“The Spring Break Textiles Trek came together as a way to give students a hands‑on look at the breadth of the textiles industry,” Bircher Bruyn says. “We wanted them to see real production environments, meet the people behind the products and understand how innovation, design and manufacturing intersect.”…