In addition to training the next generation of workers for upholstery factories in North Carolina,
Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) is helping to bring cutting-edge robotic technology to the state.
CVCC’s Furniture Academy, along with the
CVCC Manufacturing Solutions Center, which is an AHFA Solution Partners member, recently partnered with engineering students at Columbia University in New York as the students researched and developed the first robotic system built specifically for use in upholstery production.
The work was part of a startup venture competition at Columbia University’s Campbell Center for Entrepreneurship. The center awarded prizes totaling $230,000 for 2025, all presented to early-stage ventures that are founded, managed and owned by current Columbia students or by recent Columbia alumni.
The $25,000 first prize in the 2025 Technology Challenge went to
Kathedra, a company founded by David Faes, Dimitris Anastasious and Oliver Davila Chasan to pioneer robotic systems to assist upholstery manufacturers. In partnership with
Standard Bots of Glen Cove, New York, the only American manufacturer of robotic arms, they are working to empower American furniture manufacturing with cutting-edge technology.
Kathedra’s robotic upholstery assist program is designed to support skilled upholsterers, reduce physical strain and enable custom, just-in-time production at scale.
In 2024, Chasan and Faes began working with the CVCC Furniture Academy to learn from the workers who keep the $180 billion upholstered furniture market moving. Their research included in-person visits to the furniture academy as well as to the High Point market.
“It’s been incredible to connect with designers, manufacturers and retailers about the future of the industry and how new tech can drive design innovation, streamline supply chains and reshape the future of work,” Chasan said after their High Point Market visit in April.
At the conclusion of their research, they built a prototype in 30 days, loaded it in a jeep and drove it to North Carolina to present it to industry leaders.
In October, Kathedra moved into the incubator space at the CVCC Manufacturing Solutions Center, where center staff members are working along with CVCC Furniture Academy staff to connect Kathedra to furniture manufacturers and related companies. “That is the special value CVCC brings to Kathedra,” notes Gary Muller, CVCC’s executive dean of economic development and corporate education. “The combination of our Manufacturing Solutions Center and the Catawba Valley Furniture Academy enables Kathedra to gain access to key manufacturers.”
After weeks on the ground, touring factories and learning about upholstery production lines, Kathedra’s founders have created partnerships with several furniture manufacturers to complement their relationships with the furniture academy and Manufacturing Solutions Center.
“From our first conversations to live demos and deployment, we are building our business alongside the people who make American furniture what it is today,” Chasan says.