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Wilson College of Textiles 
Textiles History

Mansour H. Mohamed

Years of Service: NCSU College of Textiles 1969- 1998

  • Visiting Faculty August 1969 – January 1973
  • Associate Professor January 1973-July 1976
  • Professor 1976- 1990
  • Assistant Dean for Academic Programs, 1981-1982
  • Associate Dean for Academic Programs 1982 -1984
  • Burlington Professor of Textile Engineering and Technology 1991- 1998
  • Department Head, Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science 1994- 1998
  • Named Professor Emeritus 1998-Present
  • Founder and CEO, 3D Composites, Inc., Raleigh, NC
  • Vice President, iSuturing, LLC, Raleigh, NC
  • Founder of 3TEX, Inc., Cary, NC

Mansour H. Mohamed was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on January 9, 1937.  He completed secondary school and entered Alexandria University to study engineering.  He holds a B.Sc. (Honors) in Mechanical Engineering from Alexandria University, Egypt, received in 1959.  Between 1959 and 1961 he was appointed an Instructor in the Mechanical Engineering Department of Alexandria University.  In 1961 he was granted a government fellowship to study abroad when he was admitted as a graduate student at Manchester University in the UK.  In 1962, he received a Post Graduate Diploma and in 1965 his Ph.D. in Textile Engineering from The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, U.K.  During his four years at the Textile Engineering Department of Alexandria University, Egypt, he maintained close contact with his major professor at Manchester and asked that he be notified of opportunities for teaching and research at Manchester.

Coming to NC State

The PhD in Fiber and Polymer Science was approved in 1967.  Fifteen new faculty members, most with earned PhDs, were hired between 1967 and 1970, including Mansour who arrived in August 1969 from Alexandria, Egypt.  After serving three and a half years as a visiting faculty member, he was appointed Associate Professor on January 1, 1973, and promoted to Professor in July 1976.  His pioneering work in open-end spinning and improved weaving brought attention and notoriety to the School of Textiles. (1, page 147)

When Chaney retired in 1981, Dame Hamby became dean.  Mansour accepted the position of Associate Dean for Academic Programs in addition to his research and teaching duties.  In order to improve air quality, the Environmental Protection Agency sponsored research in the use of fibrous structures in air filtration. (3)

Textile Engineering Program (1, pages168-69)

As Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Mansour was instrumental in getting the Textile Engineering Started. The General Administration and Board of Governors granted permission on October 10, 1985, to plan the Bachelor of Science in Textile Engineering degree.  Since the creation of the Ph. D. program in Fiber and Polymer Science, many engineers were added to the faculty and asked that an engineering degree program be re-established.  The original engineering degree was allowed to lapse in 1925 when the new School of Textiles was created.  Mansour was Director of the Textile Engineering Program for six years until the program obtained ABET accreditation.

Graduate Student Recruiting

In 1989, the School of Textiles published a booklet featuring the members of the graduate faculty with short descriptions of their ongoing research programs.  Mansour provided a nice paragraph describing his interest in weaving.   Mansour served as the Graduate Administrator for the Fiber and Polymer Science Ph.D. program for five years, and was responsible for corresponding with and admission of all students in the program.

Figure 1.  Mansour Mohamed 1989.  School of Textiles Graduate Research Booklet  Photo courtesy NCSU Archives

Centennial Campus Labs

In the mid-1980s, a new building was approved for textiles and when the Centennial Campus was announced, Textiles led the way.  The new building authorization on a new campus of the future was a breath of fresh air and promised much needed space.

In 1988, Mohamed and Dr. Aly El-Shiekh and others received a grant from NASA to fund the Mars Mission Research Center – a Multi-University Research Center involving NCSU and NC A&T University.  From NCSU, the College of Engineering had the leading role.  The College of Textiles studied 3D weaving and 3D braiding to make composites for lightweight structures to help the mission explore the planet Mars. (1, page 180) (7)

In recognition of all the work he had done in weaving and yarn technologies, Mansour was named as the Burlington Industries Professor in 1990. (8)

This new $26,000,000 building containing 300,000 sq. ft. of classrooms and labs was opened on January 1, 1991.  Major labs in the building included space for the latest state-of-the–art technology and room for extensive research labs including 3D weaving and 3D braiding where Mansour made further progress. (10)

Mars Mission Research Spin-offs (11-13)

Figure 2. Mansour and 3-D Loom. Photo Courtesy of NCSU Archives
Figure 3. Mansour and 3-D Carbon Fiber Structure.

Photo Courtesy of NCSU Archives

During this time of growth and improvement, Mansour Mohamed wrote several books, and served as technical editor for weaving for America’s Textiles International magazine, now Textile Industries magazine.  He has been recognized worldwide as an expert on weaving technology, woven and nonwoven fabrics and 3D weaving and composite structures.  He has had consulting activities in Egypt, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Belgium, Morocco, Germany as well as the United States.  He was elected a Fellow of the Textile Institute, and a Life Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.  He holds ten patents on three-dimensional weaving, multi-axial three-dimensional fabric and weaving as well as their composite applications. He also holds three patents in automated suturing.  He worked diligently to establish the Textile Engineering degree program and was the first program director. (14) He served as department head of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science until 1998.  He founded 3Tex, Inc.; 3D Composites, Inc.; and serves as Vice President of iSuturing, LLC.  He is still working even after “retiring” in 1998.

Consulting

He had consulting activities in Egypt, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Belgium, Morocco, Germany, as well as the United States.

Memberships in Learned and Professional Societies

  • American Society of Mechanical Engineers,
  • Chairman Textile Engineering Div. 1978-79, 1987-88
  • Fiber Society
  • National Council for Textile Education
  • Society for Advanced Materials Processing and Engineering
  • Textile Institute, UK

Honors and Awards

Dr. Mohamed was elected a Fellow of the Textile Institute, UK; Life Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.  Recipient of the Outstanding Extension Service Award of NC State University; NCSU Distinguished Scholarly Achievement Award 1991.

Selected Publications (of over 100 technical publications)

  1. Mohamed, Mansour H., An Analysis of the Mechanical Behavior of Triaxial Fabrics and the Equivalency of Conventional Fabrics, Textile Research Journal, 52, 388 (1982).
  2. Vinod Chahal and Mohamed, Mansour H., Measuring Filling Yarn Tension and Its Influence on Fabrics Woven on a Projectile Weaving Machine, Textile Research Journal, 56, 324-333 (1986).
  3. Mansour H. Mohamed and Mahmoud Salama, Mechanics of a Single Nozzle Air-jet Filling Insertion System Part I: Nozzle Design and Performance, Textile Research Journal, 56 (11), 683-690 (1986).
  4. Mahmoud Salama and Mansour H. Mohamed, Mechanics of a Single Nozzle Air-jet Filling Insertion System Part II: Velocity Distribution and Design of Air Guide System, Textile Research Journal, 56(12), 721-726. (1986)
  5. Salama, M., Adanur, S., and Mohamed, M.H., Mechanics of a Single Nozzle Air-jet Filling Insertion System Part III: Yarn Insertion Through Tubes, Textile Research Journal, 57(1), 44-54, (1987).
  6. Adanur, S. and Mohamed, M.H., “Weft Insertion on Air-jet Looms: Velocity Measurement and influence of yarn Structure, Part I: Experimental System and Computer Interface,” Text. Inst., 79(2) 297-315 (1988).
  7. Adanur, S. and Mohamed, M.H., “Weft Insertion on Air-jet Looms: Velocity Measurement and influence of yarn Structure, Part II: Effects of System Parameters and Yarn Structure ,” Text. Inst., 79(2), 316-329 (1988).
  8. Mohamed, M.H. and Zhang, Z., “Weaving of 3-D Preforms”, of Fiber-Tex 88, Greenville, S.C., 193-215 (September 1988).
  9. Mohamed, M.H., Zhang, Z., and Dickinson, L., “3-D Weaving of Net Shapes,” 1st Japan International SAMPE Symposium, 1488-1493 (November 1989).
  10. Zhang, Z., and Mohamed, M., “Theoretical Investigations of Beat-Up,” Textile Research Journal, 59(7), 395-404(July 1989).
  11. Mohamed, M., Dickinson, L., and Gu, P., “Weaving of Fabrics for Space Applications,” (Invited paper) International Textile Engineering Conference ITEC ’89, 33-43 (December 1989).
  12. Mohamed, M., “Weaving of Fabrics for Composite Applications,” ATI, 55-56 (February 1990).
  13. Dickinson, L., Mohamed, M.H., and Klang, E., “Impact Resistance and Compressional Properties of Three-Dimensional Woven Carbon/Epoxy Composites,” Proceedings of the 4th European Conference on Composite Materials, Stuttgart, Germany, Elsevier Applied Science Publication, 659-664 (September 1990)

Books

He has co-authored many books (three in Arabic and two in English).  His book on weaving published by Merrow was published in 1973, reprinted1976 and the second edition in 1982 in the UK.

  1. Mohamed, Mansour H., Dynamic analysis of the main power loom mechanisms with particular reference to speed variation and power consumption, Ph.D. Thesis(1965)
  2. R. Lord and M.H. Mohamed, Weaving: conversion of yarn to fabric, Merrow, Watford, England, (1973).
  3. Mohamed, Mansour, H., Efficient use of fibrous structures in filtration, final report, Environmental Protection Agency, (1976).
  4. Peter Schwartz, Trevor Rhodes, Mansour Mohamed, An introduction to fabric forming systems, School of Textiles, NC State University, (1979).
  5. Lord, Peter R., and Mansour Mohamed, Weaving: conversion of yarn to fabric, Merrow, Durham, England, 2nd edition, (1982).
  6. Schwartz, Peter; Trevor Rhodes, and Mansour Mohamed, An Introduction to Fabric- formation Systems, Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, (1982).

Patents

He is the holder of 10 patents on three-dimensional weaving, multi-axial three-dimensional fabric and weaving as well as their composite applications. He is also holder of three patents on automated suturing device.

  1. USP 5,465,760, “Multi-layer three-dimensional fabric and method for producing…, Mansour H. Mohamed and A. Kadir Bilisik, Nov. 14, 1995
  2. USP 5,085,252, “Method of Forming Variable Cross-sectional Shaped Three-Dimensional Fabrics,” Mansour H. Mohamed and Zhong- Huai Zhang, February 4, 1992.

References:

  1. Mock, Gary N., A Century of Progress, The Textile Program, North Carolina State University, 1899-1999, North Carolina Textile Foundation, Raleigh, NC, 2001, pages 147, 168-169, 180, 217, 220 (an error Leeds; Manchester is correct).
  2. Biography for Mansour H. Mohamed 2015.
  3. News Release, 10-24-73-601, Environmental Protection Agency … three year investigation of fibrous structures in air filtration, … funding of $68,000 for the second year, Mansour Mohamed textile technology and E. M. Afify, mechanical and aerospace engineering. NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  4. News Release, 10-7-74-569, Outstanding Extension Service Awards… Mansour Mohamed. NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  5. News Release, 4-23-76-190 “Dr. David W. Chaney, dean … announced promotions effective July 1. Mansour H. Mohamed promoted to full professor of textile technology,” NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  6. News Release, 4-11-80, “Mohamed … has been selected to lead an industrial study mission to Japan in August,” NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  7. News Release, 2-6-89-42, NCSU Develops Space-Age Fabric with automated 3-D Braiding, … El-Shiekh and Dr. Mansour H. Mohamed, … start with carbon or ceramic fibers, NCSU Archives.
  8. News Release 4-19-91, “Dr. Mansour Mohamed to be named Burlington Professor at NCSU,” NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  9. “Man May Go to Mars in a Textile Spacecraft,” Christian Science Monitor, December 1, 1993, page 16, NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  10. News Release 9-16-94 “Mansour Mohamed Named to Head NCSU Textile Engineering Department,” NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  11. News Release January 15, 1997 “Textiles Take on New Dimensions 3Tex, Inc.,” NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  12. News Release, August 28, 1996, “3Tex, Inc. Could Spark Change in Transportation Industries,” NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  13. Charlotte Observer Newspaper clipping service, “Out of the Lab, NC State pioneers the push to get products from academia to market, …3Tex investment of $20,000 to identify serious potential markets,” Dec. 15, 1996. NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  14. News Release, 3-10-89-98, “The North Carolina State University College of Textiles Engineering Society won top honors for its display at the Engineer’s Week Exposition held at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, Feb. 20-23. Mohamed … is the society’s faculty adviser.” NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  15. News Release, May 29, 2000, “Special Exhibit Highlights Patents at NC State University,” NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.
  16. “3TEX & Second Chance to Develop Next-Generation Protective Gear for Police and Military, June 14, 2001, 3TEX Press release, NCSU Archives.
  17. Cash hunt, growth on the agenda of 3Tex, The Business Journal, October 5, 2001, NCSU News Services, NCSU Archives.