Oct. 24, 2022

White House Hosts Manufacturing USA Innovation Institutes and Government Agencies for Leadership Summit

Senior leaders from federal agencies sponsoring the Manufacturing USA network of innovation institutes participated in a dynamic round table at the White House Manufacturing Summit on Monday. Discussions focused on how the Manufacturing USA network is helping America realize economic growth, innovation, and competitiveness in partnership with the government. “I wish I could spend an entire week with you all discussing how to leverage the Manufacturing Innovation Institutes to accelerate U.S. manufacturing,” said Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu. “The work you’ve accomplished over the last 10 years is phenomenal.” “The DoD needs advanced manufacturing to produce technologies critical to our national and economic security,” she added. “The Institutes are key national resources. One of my goals as Chief Technology Officer is to encourage the Department – and particularly DoD Acquisition Executives – to fully utilize the Institutes.”

Oct. 12, 2022

DoD Manufacturing Innovation Institutes Awarded Grants to Spur Regional Economic Development

Two DoD Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) - ARM and BioFabUSA - are part of teams that were awarded Build Back Better Regional Challenge grants. Funded by the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan and administered by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the challenge provides funding to foster economic growth, further inclusive and equitable recovery, and create thousands of quality-paying jobs in industries critical to the future, such as clean energy, next-gen manufacturing, and biotechnology.

Oct. 5, 2022

Building Momentum in Regional Ecosystems

The Manufacturing USA institutes are applying a cluster-based approach to connect people, ideas and technology, by developing regional ecosystems of government research institutions, universities and private sector industry members.

Sept. 23, 2022

Hicks Highlights Energy Innovation to Improve Warfighter Capabilities

The Pentagon — Deputy Secretary Hicks toured the Pentagon Energy Expo displays, including the hydrogen fuel cells funded by the OSD Manufacturing Technology Program that power a Stalker drone.

June 1, 2022

Local Partnerships Can Build STEM Workforce Development in Your District

A proven program, known as FlexFactor, helps students gain a deeper understanding of STEM and the advanced manufacturing sector. “FlexFactor guides student teams to explore emerging technologies and entrepreneurial thinking through an inquiry-based approach where they examine the lifecycle of a product. The process begins with a specific problem’s identification, then progressing to a potential technological solution including a traditional business case, that vets an opportunity based on projected demand, distribution partnerships and a forecasted return on investment for a given solution,” said Courtney Power, Workforce Development Portfolio Manager at NextFlex.

March 28, 2022

Developing, Upskilling and Transitioning Current Manufacturing Workforce

Workforce development is taking on increasing importance as manufacturers not only must fill more than 800,000 current openings but also define new careers involving robotics, automation and AI. Manufacturers are seeking people with the right skills for the advanced manufacturing jobs of today and tomorrow and finding ways to upskill their current staff. Enhanced skills in the workforce are necessary to drive the automation technologies that will increase productivity and lead a resurgent U.S. manufacturing sector. Improvements in the workforce will help make more manufacturing businesses, especially small and mid-sized companies, economically viable. The Manufacturing USA institutes are helping expand and upskill the manufacturing workforce by connecting industry with equitable education and workforce development systems, including those in underserved communities.

February 28, 2022 Feb. 28, 2022

Addressing Infrastructure Needs Through Sustainable Innovation

Applying research to develop manufacturing technologies has long been a route to bridge gaps to help solve America’s challenges. That has been the case as manufacturers initially scaled mass production, through the birth of advanced manufacturing, to the emergence of connected devices gathering data to produce predictive analytics. Now, thanks to the collaborative approaches among Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, university research departments and private sector partners, we are literally transforming the way we build bridges.

Feb. 15, 2022

Invigorating an Established Yet Fragile Textile Industry

Textile product manufacturers have seen little development or adoption of production-based technology advances over the past two decades, as the costs to move labor-intensive production overseas are often lower than the cost to invest in developing needed automation. DoD MII AFFOA is transforming traditional fibers, yarns and textiles into highly sophisticated, integrated, and networked devices and systems, enabling novel products and business models that leverage fabrics as a service, with DoD MII ARM contributing robotics technology innovation.

Jan. 6, 2022

Powering the Clean Economy

The DoD MIIs and other institutes in the Manufacturing USA network are responding to the need for increased energy efficiency and reductions in carbon emissions by fostering projects that will lead to major reductions in manufacturing energy use and costs, and provide the basis for innovative new green products. Given that future energy consumption