US Congress proposes expansion of advanced manufacturing network
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US Congress proposes expansion of advanced manufacturing network manufacturing.gov/nnmi.html
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dvanced manufacturing, a sector that relies on the technological knowledge and skills of a nation or region, has recently received a significant amount of attention in the United States. It has been an area of focus for the Obama Administration as evidenced by the President’s proposal in 2012 to build a nationwide network of up to 45 manufacturing institutes. Named the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), the network has already been kick-started in the executive branch with the establishment of four advanced manufacturing institutes (with a fifth institute pending). Some of the institutes already in place are strongly materials-based (as reported in the June 2014 issue of MRS
Bulletin). And future institutes, like the proposed Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Composite Materials and Structures (aka the Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation Institute), will likely further capitalize on materials expertise within the United States. But while a handful of institutes have been established using existing funding, large-scale expansion of the advanced manufacturing network requires congressional action— action that is taking shape in the form of the bipartisan Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation (RAMI) Act of 2013. RAMI was introduced in the Senate (S. 1468) and House (H.R. 2996) in August 2013 by Senators Sherrod Brown
Ed Morris (left) and Alan Taub speak at a Congressional briefing in Washington, DC, about the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) on September 18, 2014, just after passage of the RAMI legislation in the House. Morris and Taub are both a part of the NNMI—Morris is the Director of the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (aka America Makes) and Taub is the Chief Technology Officer for the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Credit: Mike Waring of the University of Michigan Washington Office.
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MRS BULLETIN
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VOLUME 39 • NOVEMBER 2014
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www.mrs.org/bulletin
(D-Ohio) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Representatives Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.). The companion bills seek to support and expand US advanced manufacturing by (1) improving competitiveness and increasing domestic production; (2) stimulating leadership in advanced manufacturing research, innovation, and technology; and (3) accelerating the development of an advanced manufacturing workforce. The nearly identical bills would provide resources ($300 million) and authority for the Secretary of Commerce to establish centers for manufacturing innovation that span the country creating a Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NMI) within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Secretary of Commerce is further directed to establish within NIST the National Office for the NMI, which is tasked with coordinating and overseeing the program, entering into memorandums of understanding with other federal agen
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