The Challenge

As global competition continues to increase, the United States 

must find ways to foster the innovation that produces economic 

growth and creates well-paying middle-class jobs. Advanced 

manufacturing plays a key role in this process. A national effort 

to create regional hubs focused on manufacturing innovation 

will accelerate development and adoption of cutting-edge 

manufacturing technologies for new products that compete in 

international markets. 

What is the NNMI?

The National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) 

provides a manufacturing research infrastructure where U.S. 

industry and academia collaborate to solve industry-relevant 

problems. The NNMI is a network of Institutes for Manufacturing 

Innovation that each has a unique focus, but a common goal to 

create, showcase, and deploy new capabilities and new manufacturing processes.

What NIST Does

• Hosts the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office 

(AMNPO), an interagency team including NASA, the National 

Science Foundation, and the departments of Commerce, 

Defense, Education, and Energy, that manages an open, competitive selection process for the creation of new institutes.

• Via AMNPO, enables effective collaboration in identifying and 

addressing challenges and opportunities that span technology 

areas and cut across agency missions. 

• Shares best practices across the institutes to ensure lessons 

learned are disseminated by the network.

• Links federal efforts to a growing number of private-sector 

initiatives. 

BY THE 

NUMBERS

5

Institutes for

Manufacturing

Innovation 

are up and 

running

300+

Companies and

universities

are Innovation 

Institute 

members

$70-120 

million

Federal 

investment per 

institute over five 

to seven years— all matched by 

private-sector funds

$481 million

in private funding has been 

invested in the institutes so far

$

www.nist.gov

NNMI AND NIST
Recent Program Highlights

• In January 2014, the NNMI launched the Next Generation Power 

Electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute at North Carolina State University. This institute includes 25 members and 

provides shared facilities, equipment, and testing and modeling 

capabilities to help companies across the power electronics 

supply chain invent, design and manufacture new semiconductor chips and devices. 

• In February 2014, the NNMI launched the Digital Manufacturing 

and Design Innovation Institute, located in Chicago, Ill., and led 

by UI Labs. This institute includes 73 companies, universities, 

nonprofits, and research labs working together to address the 

life cycle of digital data interchanged among myriad design, 

engineering, manufacturing and maintenance systems, and 

flowing across a networked supply chain.

• In February 2014, the NNMI launched the Lightweight and 

Modern Metals Manufacturing Innovation Institute, near Detroit, Mich., and led by EWI. This 60-member 

consortium pairs leading manufacturers with universities and small businesses to develop processes that 

accelerate scale-up of production of lightweight alloys.

• In January 2015, the NNMI launched the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation 

(IACMI) at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. This consortium of 122 companies, nonprofits, and universities will seek to develop lower-cost, higher-speed, and more-efficient manufacturing and recycling 

processes for advanced composites. 

FY 2016 Budget

NIST is requesting $150 million to support the NNMI. With the requested funds, NIST will focus on:

• Establishing and managing the NNMI network.

• Collaborating with the existing pilot institutes to establish a framework for network management and 

operations to support coordination among the institutes.

• Developing network governance processes to support productive interactions among institutes.

• Conducting open competitions for two additional institutes on topics proposed by industry.

Program Goals

• Accelerate innovation 

and implementation of 

advanced manufacturing 

capabilities.

• Establish an initial 

network of up to 15 

regional institutes—

each with a unique technology focus.

• Foster sustainable, 

industry-led institutes

designed in partnership with 

industry, academia, non-profit 

organizations, and states.