manufacturing

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy recently announced the launch of a manufacturing apprenticeship program that will provide wage subsidies and tuition reimbursement to participating students. The effort will begin as a two-year, $7.8 million initiative, focused on advanced manufacturing industries, including aerospace, medical devices, composite materials, digital manufacturing and others. Funding will derive from the state’s Manufacturing Innovation Fund.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is conducting three regional forums on the proposed recompetition of MEP Centers in 11 states and Puerto Rico. The regional forums are intended to provide interested entities more information about the MEP program, the federal funding opportunity and answers to any questions regarding the funding announcement prior to its targeted release of January 2016.

Vice President Joe Biden announced that the Research Foundation for the State University of New York will receive a $110 million federal grant from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to lead the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM-Photonics). The Department of Defense-funded grant will be supplemented by a $250 million investment from the state of New York with additional funding commitments from public and private partners expected to exceed $245 million over the next five years.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the designation of 12 new communities as part of the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) initiative. This second round of manufacturing communities was selected by an interagency panel to receive targeted support from 11 different federal agencies and programs. The IMCP initiative is intended to accelerate U.S. manufacturing by investing in partnerships and long-term economic development strategies in key regions. More than $1 billion in federal assistance will be available to the 12 designated communities.

Academic institutions throughout the nation are committing themselves to the Maker movement, with the hopes of empowering a culture on their campus that promotes student confidence, STEM education, and hands-on creativity, according to a recent report by the MakeSchools Higher Education Alliance. Created in response to the Obama administration’s activities around Maker spaces, such as

Massachusetts needs an advanced manufacturing strategy, preferably one based on regional public-private consortia, according to a new report from the MIT Industrial Performance Center. In Strengthening the Innovation Ecosystem for Advanced Manufacturing: Pathways & Opportunities for Massachusetts, the group recommends that the state look to the federal Institutes of Manufacturing Innovation to develop its own manufacturing infrastructure.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) released a notice of intent to issue two future Federal Funding Opportunities (FFOs) in 2016 for the recompetition of state MEP centers in 22 states. Each state MEP center provides manufacturing extension services to primarily small- and medium-sized manufacturers in their respective state.

The rise of advanced manufacturing has opened the door to a resurgence of New England's manufacturing economy, according to a new report from The New England Council and Deloitte Consulting LLC. In Advanced to Advantageous: The Case for New England's Manufacturing Revolution, the authors suggest that the existing network of universities, private manufacturers and government partners give the region a competitive advantage in advanced prototyping, additive manufacturing and the Internet of Things.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) issued a Federal Funding Opportunity for nonprofit organizations to operate state MEP centers in 12 states – Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The objective of the MEP Center program is to provide business and technical services to small- and medium-sized manufacturers within the state of operation.

This week, the White House released details on its ninth planned institute within the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. The Department of Defense will award $75 million for a new manufacturing hub focused on Revolutionary Fibers and Textiles. Regional manufacturers, universities and nonprofits will soon be invited to compete for the funds, which require a 1:1 cost share. The institute will be the sixth funded through the Defense Department. Three others have received support through the Department of Energy.