An internationally-recognized cotton research scientist has been named the managing director of the Texas Tech University's Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute. Noureddine Abidi, an associate professor with Tech's Department of Plant and Soil Science and associate director of Tech's FBRI, officially stepped into his new post on Jan. 1.

"I'm excited and looking forward to work hard with the FBRI team to fulfil our mission of providing education, research, and service on natural fibers and biopolymers," Abidi said.

Texas Tech's FBRI is equipped and staffed to conduct both basic and applied research and development activities ranging from small-scale testing to large-scale manufacturing. A fundamental objective is to foster greater use of the natural fibers. Activities revolve around researching, testing, and evaluating natural and man-made fibers, production and evaluation of yarns and fabrics, alternative textile processing systems, dyeing and finishing, special yarn and fabric treatments, development of bioproducts from cotton cellulose, and cotton cell wall biology/biochemistry.

Located some six miles east of the main campus, the facility occupies 110,000 square-feet of space allowing researchers to conduct testing and evaluation from the raw fiber stage through the finished textile product. Facilities include a multimedia classroom, conference room and library, biopolymer research laboratory, phenomics laboratory, short staple spinning laboratory, and weaving laboratory.

In terms of personnel, the FBRI has six faculty members, 15 permanent staff members, 18 graduate students, two post-docs, and two student assistants. FBRI's faculty generated more than $1.3 million (FY15) in research funding. In addition, the FBRI generates more than $350,000 per year in service (testing).

Abidi has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on funded research grants totaling more than $14 million since 1999. He has published over 80 peer review publications and book chapters. Prior to joining Tech in 1999, Abidi worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in the materials and membrane processes laboratory of the National School of Chemical Engineering of Montpellier (France); and a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of physical chemistry of Condensed Matter at the University of Montpellier II (France).

He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from the University of Med I, Faculty of Sciences Oujda (Morocco); and his doctorate in theoretical, physical, and analytical chemistry from the University of Montpellier II (France). He was awarded the H.D.R. (Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches), a French diploma required to be full professor in French universities, in engineering science from the University of Haute Alsace, Mulhouse (France) in 2007.

Abidi received several awards including CASNR Research Award, Texas Tech University Chancellor's Council Distinguished Research Award, Texas Tech University President's Mid-Career Award, and a Fulbright Grant from the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (2016). Recently, he was selected to receive 2017 Texas Tech University Integrated Scholar Award. In addition, he and the FBRI were honored for their contributions to West Texas in 2015 by the Association for Women in Communication Lubbock Professional Chapter.

Written by Norman Martin

CONTACT: Eric Hequet, Department Chair, Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2838 or eric.hequet@ttu.edu

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