NADO.org » Manufacturing

EDA Announces Workshop on Building the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation

NADO Admin — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:51:59 +0000

On September 27, the U.S. Economic Development Agency (EDA) will hold the third in a series of regional public workshops to gather ideas for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The event will take place at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering in Irvine, California.

The NNMI is a collaborative effort announced by President Obama in March 2012 with the goal of improving the U.S. manufacturing sector’s competitiveness and innovation performance, focusing on the scale-up of new product and process technologies.

Invited speakers to the September 27 workshop will include industry executives, local and state leaders, and administration officials. The workshop will also feature interactive discussion sessions on topics key to the success of the NNMI and the proposed Institutes for Manufacturing Innovation.

Online pre-registration is open until September 18. Registration after this date is on a first-come, first-serve basis, should space remain available. Click here to register for this event.

House Passes Manufacturing Competitiveness Act

NADO Admin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:18:19 +0000

On September 12, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the “American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2012” (H.R. 5865), by a vote of 339 to 77, which would require President Obama to consult with a newly created American Manufacturing Competitiveness Board aimed at strengthening the nation’s manufacturing sector. Under the legislation, the established board would be responsible to advise the president on opportunities to boost the nation’s sustainability and competitiveness, and the president would be required to describe efforts to incorporate such information when preparing the annual budget request and would have to publish a national growth strategy in 2014 and 2018 to a public website. The U.S. Senate has yet to take action on this bill. Click here to view the full legislative text of H.R. 5865.

White House Proposes Creation of National Network for Manufacturing Innovation

NADO Admin — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 13:31:36 +0000

The White House introduced a new proposal for FY2013 to create a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) to help accelerate innovation by investing in industrially relevant manufacturing technologies with broad applications, and to support manufacturing technology commercialization by bridging the gap between the laboratory and the market.

The NNMI proposal calls for the establishment of up to 15 Institutes for Manufacturing Innovation (IMI) funded through a one-time infusion of $1 billion in mandatory funding to the Department of Commerce’s National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and carried out over a period of 10 years. Each IMI would be comprised of stakeholders from industry (including large companies and small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises), academia, federal agencies, and state government entities. According to the proposal, each IMI is to be competitively selected, serve as a regional hub for manufacturing innovation (as well as part of the national network), and have a unique focus area (e.g., an advanced material, manufacturing process, enabling technology, or industry sector). The NNMI would be managed collaboratively by NIST, the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and other agencies. Click here to read a report by the Congressional Research Service on the Administration’s NNMI proposal.