UA on hand as White House takes next steps in advanced manufacturing

The University of Akron News

10/27/2014

The University of Akron is well represented today in Washington, D.C., as President Barack Obama pushes forward the work of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership 2.0.  Back in April, UA hosted nearly 200 people from businesses, government and academia for a conference/workshop on a White House-led initiative to strengthen manufacturing in the U.S.  The workshop was sponsored by UA and the United Steelworkers labor union.

Now, the White House is ready to push forward recommendations from the various task forces.  Attending the White House announcement is UA President Emeritus Luis Proenza on behalf of the AMP2.0 steering committee. Attending the National Academies Innovation Policy Forum in the afternoon are UA Associate Vice President for Research Wayne Watkins and UA Associate Vice President for Innovation Ajay Mahajan.  

Recommendations from the teams led by Mahajan and Watkins included:

  • Establish a national strategy for securing U.S. advantage in emerging manufacturing technologies
  • Create an Advanced Manufacturing Advisory Consortium to coordinate private-sector input on research and development priorities
  • Establish a new public-private manufacturing research and development infrastructure to support the innovation pipeline including manufacturing centers of excellence and manufacturing technology testbeds
  • Coordinate existing federal, state, industry group and private organizations to improve information flow about technologies, markets and supply chains to small and medium sized manufacturers
  • Reduce risk associated with scale-up of advanced manufacturing by improving access to capital through a public-private scale-up investment fund.  

Related:

Media contact: Eileen Korey, 330-972-8589 or korey@uakron.edu

The University of Akron

President Emeritus Luis Proenza

Ajay Mahajan and Wayne Watkins