Manufacturing USA

Georgia Tech is a member of 11 Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MII’s), part of the Manufacturing USA network. Manufacturing USA was created in 2014 to secure U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing by connecting people, ideas, and technology. Manufacturing USA is comprised of 16 MIIs, sponsored by federal agencies, including the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Energy.

The institutes — each of which focuses on a specific advanced manufacturing technology — convene private-sector companies, academic institutions, and other stakeholders to pursue collaborative research and development, test applications, train workers, and reduce the risks associated with deploying new technologies. Manufacturing USA brings together industry, academia and the public sector to advance American manufacturing. The collaborations galvanize domestic manufacturing supply chains; grow centers of technological excellence across the country; move products from lab to market in record time; revitalize the national economy; and affirm our global leadership.

The MII’s in which GT participates are listed directly below. The GT leads for each MII are identified in the list of collaborating researchers and collaborators at the end of this page.
•    AIM Photonics (American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics)
•    America Makes
•    ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) 
•    ARMI Biofab USA (Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute) 
•    BioMADE (Bioindustrial Manufactuing and Design Ecosystem)
•    MXD (Manufacturing times Digital)
•    Next Flex (Flexible Hybrid Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute)
•    NIIMBL (The National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaecuticals)
•    PowerAmerica
•    RAPID (Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment Institute)
•    REMADE (Reducing Embodied-energy And Decreasing Emissions)
 

NIST Advanced Manufacturing Program Office

GTMI also serves as a channel for informing the NIST OAM (National Institute of Standards and Technology Office of Advanced Manufacturing) on future directions in manufacturing and industry needs. NIST OAM serves as the headquarters for the interagency Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office to coordinate Manufacturing USA. Most recently, GTMI conducted a campus-wide survey to provide NIST feedback on the structure of a newly proposed Manufacturing USA pathway to membership.
 

National Materials and Manufacturing Board (NMMB)

GTMI’s Executive Director, Ben Wang, Ph.D., also served as the Chair of the NMMB.
The NMMB is the principal forum at the U.S. National Academies for all issues related to innovative materials and advanced manufacturing, and has oversight responsibility for National Academies’ activities in these technology areas. The Board provides objective, independent advice on science and engineering topics that relate to materials and manufacturing, including technology, policy, workforce, and infrastructure. The NMMB carries out its responsibilities through a variety of activities including ad hoc studies, workshops, symposia, and expert meetings on emerging topics in materials and manufacturing. NMMB studies guide government research programs and regulatory activities.
 

CMaT Policy Initiatives

CMaT’s policy and ethics research examines how personalized manufacturing processes for certain cell therapies, such as CAR-T cell therapies, are shaped by existing regulatory policies and how they influence access to these powerful medical therapies. This research draws on manufacturing simulations to understand the impact of current policies and explore the impact of potential policy changes as well as prioritization strategies that could be adopted by cell therapy manufacturers. Additional research draws on qualitative interviews to understand patients’ experiences with these novel therapies and help integrate their perspectives into ongoing cell therapy development. CMaT’s ethics and policy research effort is led by Aaron Levine, Associate Professor in the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech and Co-Director for CMaT’s Engineering Workforce Development initiatives, in collaboration with students and post-docs at Georgia Tech and other CMaT institutions.