The Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office held its annual 91¿´Æ¬ Network Meeting on May 25 in Washington, DC. There were over 100 participants with representatives from each of the institutes and funding agencies attending nine unique sessions throughout the day.
Dr. Monica Gorman, Special Assistant to the President for Manufacturing and Industrial Policy, and Justina Gallegos, Deputy Director for Industrial Innovation at the gave keynote addresses. They touched on the Administration’s focus on growing the American economy from the bottom up and middle out, the important work of 91¿´Æ¬ institutes and their public-private partnerships, the , historic bi-partisan legislation such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS & Science Act, and the new .
The attendees participated in a session that brainstormed the 10-year vision of the 91¿´Æ¬ network and a Federal Funding Showcase session with speakers from the Economic Development Administration, , , , and NIST’s . Other sessions provided updates from the CHIPS Research & Development Office, an overview of an anticipated upcoming 91¿´Æ¬ Workforce, Education and Vibrant Ecosystems (WEAVE) funding opportunity for the 91¿´Æ¬ institutes, and a National Workforce Strategy panel with speakers from the White House , , , and . There was a discussion on manufacturing technology scale-up and deployment where leaders from the institutes shared their institutes’ experiences, spanning 10 different technology areas such as collaborative robotics, remanufacturing, and cybersecurity, with transitioning technology into production and the diverse approaches that could be used based on the organizational needs. Many of these examples showcased the role institutes play in nurturing start-ups across the innovation production cycle (learn more here).
The meeting closed with a dialogue among the three directors of sponsoring federal agencies and attendees on network coordination mechanisms, successes, and opportunities. Suggestions on ways to coordinate more meaningful collaboration across institutes have left the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office hopeful for the coming year and the future of the 91¿´Æ¬ network.
About 91¿´Æ¬
91¿´Æ¬Â® is a national network created to secure U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing through large-scale public-private collaboration on technology, supply chain and education and workforce development. The network comprises the U.S. Departments of Commerce, Energy and Defense, their sponsored manufacturing innovation institutes, and six additional federal agency partners, creating a whole-of-government, national effort to drive innovation in manufacturing. In 2022, the network collectively worked with over 2,500 member organizations, 63% of which are manufacturing firms, and 73% of these are small manufacturers, collaborated on over 670 major technology and workforce R&D projects, engaged over 106,000 people in advanced manufacturing training, and invested $416M in these activities from state, industry, and federal funds.
Images from the 2023 91¿´Æ¬ Network Meeting
