March 11, 2025

Resolving Warfighter Challenges through Innovation and Connections

Honolulu, HI — Director of the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing Technology program (OSD ManTech) Keith DeVries said,” One of the biggest takeaways from the Pacific Operational Science & and Technology Conference (POST) are the connections that were made between those with big ideas for improving defense manufacturing and the people or companies who could help bring those ideas to life.”

Sept. 27, 2023

DOD Is Taking Steps to Shore Up Industrial Workforce

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is taking steps to ensure the U.S. industrial base can meet the growing demand for skilled workers well into the future, a senior Pentagon official said today.

June 22, 2023

Pentagon Exhibit Highlights Efforts to Speed Innovation, Invention

WASHINGTON — Pentagon employees got a chance to view some of the projects that will speed up innovation and invention in the department at a DOD Manufacturing Technology Program exhibition yesterday.

Sept. 12, 2022

Institute Facilities Are a Draw for Many Early-Stage Companies

August 17, 2022 — Competitiveness was among the primary drivers in the creation of Manufacturing USA to secure U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing by connecting people, ideas, and technology. The Manufacturing USA network, which has roots in the creation of America Makes in 2012, has grown to include 16 manufacturing innovation institutes that work to accelerate and de-risk technology development and scale-up through an ecosystem of government research institutions, universities and private sector industry members. Collectively, the institutes in the past decade have advanced 270 technologies toward commercialization.

Aug. 17, 2022

How the Manufacturing USA Network Nurtures Startup Companies Across the Innovation Gap

August 17, 2022 — The gap between a good idea and a successful commercial product is known as the “innovation valley of death.” It’s part of the complex history in which manufacturers and investors struggled to keep operations on shore and develop innovations domestically when lower cost options existed elsewhere. The additional business risk associated with investments in prototyping and product development also hinder the creation of new companies that can drive innovation in manufacturing. 

April 26, 2021

AFRL Materials scientist receives NextFlex 2021 Fellow Award

Dr. Jeremy Ward, a scientist at Wright-Patterson’s Air Force Research Laboratory, has received a 2021 Fellow Award from NextFlex, America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) Manufacturing Institute. Ward was one of four recipients.