VCAT Manufacturing Subcommittee 

Recommendations 

on 

Design Principles for the Advanced 

Manufacturing Technology Consortia 

(AMTech)

Alan Taub

Chair, VCAT Manufacturing Subcommittee

October 18, 2011
Design Principles for AMTech

•

• What management models are most effective 

for the public-private partnerships –

specifically AMTech – taking into consideration 

the following concerns:

– To facilitate development, diffusion, and adoption 

of knowledge and technology transfer

– To facilitate participation by small manufacturers

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Design Principles for AMTech •

• What management models are most effective for the 

public-private partnerships – specifically AMTech?

– A good model is the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative 

(NRI)

• The NRI has leveraged modest Federal funding with significant coinvestment from state and local governments along with industry 

partners to establish regional research centers and enjoys extensive 

participation by educational institutions.

– As a starting point for discussion, we propose that AMTech 

be managed through consortia, led by industry, that include 

broad participation by universities and government 

agencies. 

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How to ensure the participation of 

small firms

• Through tiered membership in consortia (e.g., 

sliding scale of dues)

• Through weighted voting rights

• Through performance of research tasks

• Through access to specialized shared facilities

• Through special consideration for consortia 

led by small firms

• Other? 

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Design Principles for AMTech

•

• What are appropriate performance goals and 

evaluation criteria

• For the overall Program?

• For selecting awardees (consortia or other)

• For measuring the performance of the awarded teams

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Design Principles for AMTech

• What are appropriate evaluation criteria for the 

overall Program?

– Identification of critical gaps (e.g. technology, skill sets, etc.) in 

manufacturing that are common to an industry or sector

– Creation of roadmaps* that guide new research and 

development to address industry problems

– Ability to attract and leverage participation by multiple 

government agencies (including state and local governments), 

industry members, and universities

• Resource commitment and leveraging

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* Roadmaps should identify problems that need to be addressed – not solutions - 

and include the timeframes in solutions need to be developed.
Design Principles for AMTech 

• What are appropriate evaluation criteria for the 

overall Program? (continued)

– The Program’s awardees produce well-founded plans for the 

research life cycle, including technology diffusion and path to 

commercialization, and execute them

• Is the full supply chain participating? 

• Output as US jobs 

– Creation of platform technologies that accelerate advancements 

in key manufacturing areas to dramatically increase U. S. 

competitiveness 

– Solutions generated to roadmap problems, commercialization, 

and US jobs

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Design Principles for AMTech

•

• What are appropriate evaluation criteria for 

selecting awardees (consortia or other)?

– Clearly-articulated vision for developing roadmap or 

other means of identifying technology challenges that 

are suited to AMTech Program

• Innovativeness

• Significant impact on U. S. competitiveness

– Track record of participants

– Breadth of types of entities included in consortium

• including small and medium manufacturers where 

appropriate

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Design Principles for AMTech

•

• What are appropriate evaluation criteria for measuring the performance 

of the awarded teams?

– Attainment of stated goals and quality of scientific results: published 

roadmaps, research publications, formation of testbeds, . . . 

– Demonstration(s) of how research outputs address noted technology gaps, . . . 

– Effectiveness of management/oversight to ensure that goals are attained

– Evidence of risk-taking in the technologies tackled

– A vision that includes “grand challenges” 

– Successful inclusion of small and mid-sized firms

– Robust diffusion of technology and commercialization

– Rigorous tracking and evaluation of economic/technical impacts

– Amount of investment and resources leveraged from other government 

agencies (including state and local governments), industry members, and 

universities

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Design Principles for AMTech

•

• What enabling technologies can make U.S. 

Manufacturers more competitive globally?

– Note that selection of investment areas should not be 

technology specific but should be driven by the 

competitive criteria of the proposals.

• Process technologies and advanced materials rather than 

product technologies – platform technologies that improve 

the way manufacturing is done or enable manufacture of 

new products

• Balance of short to long-term outputs

• Scale-up gaps that hinder a technology from being deployed 

for large-scale manufacturing

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Design Principles for AMTech

•

• Are there other key challenges that we need 

to be aware of?

– Interactions with state, local, and other economic 

development agencies

– Influence of mission-specific federal agencies

– “Messaging” – conveying that this program is not 

picking winners and losers 

– Ensuring that U. S. manufacturers gain 

competitive advantage

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Key Challenges

• How to measure the benefit of the AMTech 

program to the U.S.? 

• Competitiveness of

– U.S. - headquartered firms

– U.S. “owned” firms

– Any firm with substantial U.S. research and 

manufacturing facilities

– Domestic content of products

– other

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