The proof can be found in the emerging National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) institutes, which has just added a ninth member.
President Obama has announced that the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) will lead the newest Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute in partnership with the Department of Energy.
The stated goal of the new institute is to accelerate the development and adoption of new sensors, data analytics and controls in manufacturing as well as reducing the cost of these technologies by half.
To that end, the institute will use an open-source digital platform and technology marketplace as well as providing manufacturers with access to real-time analytic tools, infrastructure and industrial applications.
According to the federal government, these institutes are already having an impact.
For example, the NNMI initiative is credited with helping Rochester, NY attract over $1.4 billion and 800 manufacturing jobs from new photonics companies as well as the first FDA-approved 3D-printed medical device.
5 New Manufacturing Institute Competitions
The President also announced five new manufacturing competitions that will receive investments of almost $800 million in combined federal and non-federal funding to stimulate research on new manufacturing technologies.
These competitions include:
- Robotics in Manufacturing Environments: A collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD) that focuses on building US leadership in collaborative robotics.
- Advanced Tissue Biofabrication: A collaboration with the DoD to solve the manufacturing challenges for producing synthetic tissues and organs, with an emphasis on 3D bio-printing and automated pharmaceutical screening methods.
- Modular Chemical Process Intensification: A collaboration with the Department of Energy (DoE) to redesign the chemical manufacturing process, including shrinking equipment footprints and working to refine natural gas directly from the wellhead.
- Reducing Embodied Energy and Decreasing Emissions in Materials Manufacturing: A collaboration with the DoE to develop new technologies for reducing the total lifetime energy use of manufactured materials through reuse, recycling and remanufacturing.
- Industry-Proposed Competition: The Department of Commerce has opened the final competition to any topic proposed by industry and not already covered by a NNMI institute. The intent is to enable leading manufacturers to identify critical technologies for the continued competitiveness of US manufacturing.
The Growing National Network for Manufacturing Innovation
Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, the SMLC is a consortium of nearly 200 partners from universities, private companies and non-profit organizations. Its Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute will be launching five regional manufacturing centers focusing on local technology transfer and workforce development:
- UCLA will lead the California regional center
- Texas A&M will lead the Gulf Coast center
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will lead the Northeast center
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will lead the hub in the Northwest
- North Carolina State will lead the hub for the Southeast
The existing NNMI institutes are:
- America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (Youngstown, OH)
- Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (Chicago, IL)
- Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (Detroit, MI)
- Power America (Raleigh, NC)
- Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (Knoxville, TN)
- American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (Rochester, NY)
- Next Flex, the Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute (San Jose, CA)
- Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (Cambridge, MA)
For more information, visit the NNMI website.