Vikki B. Martin leads the Fiber Competition division which is responsible for research on cotton quality measurements as well as utilization of those measurements from the ginning to spinning portions of the textile industry. The division is responsible for a physical testing laboratory that provides testing services for fiber, yarn and fabric for all of Cotton Incorporated’s research and implementation activities including both agricultural and textile based areas. The Fiber Competition division also maintains its own research activities focused on improving technologies for measuring the quality of cotton fibers including improvements in test methods for evaluating cotton breeder samples. The division’s marketing activities involve the promotion of cotton management software: Engineered Fiber Selection® (EFS), a suite of software tools to aid with logistics, evaluation and optimization of cotton usage from bale press to yarn formation. The division also organizes and disseminates information on the quality of the U.S. Upland cotton crop. Ms. Martin routinely presents this information both domestically and internationally to textile mills, gins, and other industry groups. Ms. Martin is third generation textiles having a grandfather who worked in cotton open end spinning and father that worked in dyeing and finishing of cotton knit fabrics. Ms. Martin has both a BS and MS in Textile Chemistry from North Carolina State University and is currently pursuing her PhD part-time in Fibers and Biopolymers at Texas Tech (via distance learning).
