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Manufacturing USA Program Update

NIST Visiting Committee On Advanced Technology

Frank W. Gayle, Deputy Director

NIST Office of Advanced Manufacturing and the 

Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office

An interagency team building partnerships with U.S. industry and academia

June 6, 2018
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1. Background and status

2. NIST Role Overseeing Manufacturing USA®

3. How an Institute Works: NIIMBL

4. What’s Ahead

Topics
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Manufacturing USA

Background
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Mission

Connecting people, ideas, and 

technology to solve industry-relevant 

advanced manufacturing challenges, 

thereby enhancing industrial 

competitiveness and economic growth 

and strengthening our national 

security.
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U.S. global leadership in 

advanced manufacturing

Vision
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Addressing

National Needs

• The U.S. leads the world in innovation 

and inventions

• But the manufacturing capabilities 

and new products get developed in 

other countries instead

“Embracing technological innovation and 

speeding adoption are critical for U.S national 

security and economic competitiveness.”

The Work Ahead 

Council on Foreign Relations

April 2018
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Why Manufacturing USA Revitalize American 

Manufacturing and 

Innovation (RAMI) Act

• 118 bipartisan co-sponsors

• Signed into law December 16, 2014

Manufacturing Employment (Millions)
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Manufacturing USA Technology Projects

Bridge Gaps
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Institutes Designed to Transform

Technology Collaboration Manufacturing 

USA Network

Government

Federal State and Local

Economic

Development

Organizations

Academia

and

National Labs Industry

Start-ups

Small and

Medium

Enterprises

Large

Manufacturing

Companies

Community

Colleges

Universities Manufacturing 

USA Institute

• Prototype labs/shops

• Research facility

• Computer lab

Shared Use Facility

National Labs
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Institute Technologies

BioManufacturingDigital 

Electronics Materials Automation

Energy Usage / 

Environmental 

Impact

Manchester, NH

Newark, DE

Regenerative 

Manufacturing

Chicago, IL

Digital 

Manufacturing 

& Design

Albany, NY

Rochester, NY

Integrated 

Photonics

New York, NY

Modular 

Chemical 

Process 

Intensification

Detroit, MI

Lightweight 

Metals

Cambridge MA

Advanced 

Fibers and 

Textiles

Rochester, NY

Sustainable 

Manufacturing

Biopharmaceutical 

Manufacturing

Raleigh, NC

Wide Bandgap 

Semiconductors

Knoxville, TN

Detroit, MI

Advanced 

Composites

Youngstown, OH

El Paso, TX

Additive 

Manufacturing

Los Angeles, CA

Smart Sensors 

and Digital 

Process Control

San Jose, CA

Flexible Hybrid 

Electronics

Pittsburgh, PA

Advanced 

Robotics

New in 

FY17

14 institutes

• 8 DOD

• 5 DOE

• 1 DOC/NIST

Commitment

$1 B Federal 

$2 B non-federal
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Led by Industry: Impact to U.S.

Innovation Ecosystem 1,291 members (FY 2017)

• +50% increase in membership 

over 2016 

• 65% from industry

• 65% of manufacturers are 

small and medium-sized

• 297 universities, community 

colleges, and other academic 

institutions

• 150 federal, state, and local 

government, federal 

laboratories, and not-forprofits

23% 

Academic

65% 

Mfg. 12% 

Other

65% 

Small

35% 

Large

Mfg.

Membership breakdown of 12 institutes in FY 2017
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Developing an Advanced

MFG Workforce Nearly 200,000 people participated in 

workforce development training programs

 7X increase from 2016

• 185,425 students in institute research 

and development projects, internships, 

or training

• 4,302 workers completed institute-led 

certificate, apprenticeship, or training 

programs

• 1,299 teachers and trainers in instituteled training for instructors

Students Workers Teachers and trainers

Students in institute projects or 

internships = 185,425
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Technology

Advancement

• Many collaborative technology 

R&D projects can take several 

years to conclude

• High level of participation by 

industry + progress in meeting 

technical objectives are early 

indicators of success

273 Major Collaborative 

R&D Projects in FY 2017
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Project Highlight

Smart Bandage 

Partners Collaborate on 

New Medical Products

• Flexible and conformable 

smart wound dressing

• Senses and controls oxygen 

to speed healing at low cost

• Sensing system provides 

medical staff continuous 

data about the patient Purdue University

Indiana University

Integra Life Sciences

Western Michigan University
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Project Highlight 

Partnering to Accelerate 

Energy Innovation 

Oak Ridge National Labs

Colorado Office of 

Economic Trade and 

Development 

SMMs

9 meter wind turbine blade is • Lighter • Less expensive • Stronger • More energy-efficient

Manufacturing • Production time is reduced • Costs are reduced
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Digitizing Legacy 

Equipment

University of Cincinnati

Raytheon

Faurecia

ITI

TechSolve

Project Highlight 

Partners Develop New Computer Vision 

Toolkit • Cameras read legacy displays + 

control dials to digitize information 

for emerging industry-standard format

• Software and hardware toolkit will 

cost <$1,000 per machine

• Even the smallest manufacturer can 

update processes without replacing 

costly legacy equipment

• Open source framework
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Reaching the Next 

Generation: Girls of Steel 

Robotics®

Project Highlight • Founded in 2010 at Carnegie Mellon 

University

• Participates in FIRST competitions • Building a pipeline through 

programming for middle school girls

• Summer camps also offered in 

underserved areas

• 65 Girls of Steel alumnae, 85% 

pursuing STEM fields in college 

• Plans to expand the program 

nationally through ARM’s Regional 

Collaboratives
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NIST Role with

Manufacturing USA
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NIST Congressional Responsibilities

Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act

RAMI Calls Upon the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to 

Establish:

Manufacturing USA Program: to convene and support a 

network of institutes (network function) 

National Program Office at NIST: to oversee and carry out 

the Program

New Institutes: using open topic competitions

And, established role of MEP
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NIST Functions Leading the 

National Program Office

Coordination

• Network meetings (biannual)

• Institute Directors (monthly)

• Interagency meetings (biweekly)

• Communications Team (biweekly)

• Education/Workforce Team (biweekly)

• Task Teams (three)

• Institute Directors Council
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Network Support • Online Shared Services • Resource of best practices, 

reference materials, program 

calendar

• Secure Collaboration Sites • Provided to all institutes and 

agencies

• Used by cross-institute teams, 

interagency teams 

• Five institutes use this as their 

internal institute collaboration

NIST Functions Leading the 

National Program Office
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Communications

• ManufacturingUSA.com

• Manufacturing.gov

• Manufacturing USA Annual Report

• Manufacturing USA Strategic Plan

NIST Functions Leading the 

National Program Office
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Institutes have 

corresponding 

technical 

programs as 

many NIST labs

NIST labs help 

develop funding 

opportunities, 

vision, and 

review 

applications

NIST labs serve 

advisory role 

within institutes

Active 

collaborations 

between 

institutes and 

NIST Labs 

NIST Laboratory Programs Well 

Engaged with Institutes
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Manufacturing 

USA Institutes

Number of Interactions 

with AMTech

AIM Photonics 2

America Makes 9

DMDII 1

IACMI 4

LIFT 1

NextFlex 1

NIIMBL 3

Power America 1

REMADE 2

• 35 awards 2013 – 2015

• 22 Roadmaps published

• Program to catalyze industrydriven technology consortia in 

areas of national importance

• Many projects and roadmaps were 

leveraged to form Manufacturing 

USA institutes

• Consortia formed from AMTech

projects are still involved in 

Manufacturing USA institutes
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AMTech Projects Underpin 

Formation of Manufacturing USA Institutes

Manufacturing 

USA Institutes

Foundational Documents

AIM Photonics

• National Technology Roadmaps for Photonics 

• Photonic System Manufacturing Consortium

• MTConnect Roadmap Strategy to Promote Advanced Manufacturing in the US

• Consortium for Innovation in Sheet Metal Forming

• Cell Manufacturing Consortium 

• Advanced Lyophilization Technology 

• Biomanufacturing Science and Technology Consortium to Advance U.S. 

Manufacturing of Biopharmaceuticals

• Consortium Formation and Technology Roadmap Development for 

Remanufacturing in the Circular Economy
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Flexible Hybrid 

Electronics

San Jose, CA

Smart Sensors and 

Digital Process 

Control

Los Angeles, CA

Modular Chemical 

Process 

Intensification

New York, NY

Bio-pharmaceutical 

Manufacturing

Newark, DE

Digital 

Manufacturing 

& Design

Chicago, IL

Integrated 

Photonics

Albany, NY

Rochester, NY

Regenerative 

Manufacturing

Manchester, NH

Advanced Fibers 

and Textiles

Rochester, NY Cambridge, MA

Sustainable 

Manufacturing

Wide Bandgap 

Semiconductors

Raleigh, NC

Advanced 

Composites 

Knoxville, TN

Detroit, MI

Lightweight 

Metals

Detroit, MI

Advanced 

Robotics

Pittsburgh, PA

Additive

Manufacturing

Youngstown, OH

El Paso, TX

Manufacturing USA 

Institutes & MEP
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MEP Center Staff Embedded at 

All 14 MFG USA Institutes

14 NIST MEP-funded 

projects

~$17M NIST investment
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How an Institute Works
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Each Institute 

ADVANCES U.S. 

MANUFACTURING

1. Industry-led consortium with a clear 

mission based on critical industry need 

2. Effective collaboration space for precompetitive applied R&D, solving big 

challenges

3. Creates value for industry participation 

and funding 

4. Federal start-up funding must catalyze at 

least 100% co-investment

5. Addresses the skills gap on education and 

workforce skills for their technology 

areas
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Industry led for industrially-relevant innovation

Flexible, scalable, and agile bioprocesses

Existing and emerging classes of therapeutics

World-leading biomanufacturing workforce

Standards development to accelerate deployment 

NIST-sponsored, University of Delaware 

led

90+ members, including major 

biopharma and suppliers

$70 M from NIST, matched by 

> $129 M from partners

Focus on enabling manufacturing 

technology, not products
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NIIMBL: One Year Post-Launch

$32M in technical and 

workforce projects awarded

Project Call 2.1 released in May

Ongoing technology workshops

Roadmapping in Gaps 

o Gene-therapies

o Antibody Drug Conjugates 

& Biospecifics

o Vaccines
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Annual Report for Secretary of 

Commerce in June 2018

Completion of HQ building in 2019 

(funded by University of Delaware and 

private philanthropy)

Hit steady state goal of 20 ongoing 

projects

Leverage MEP connection through 

embedded staff to strengthen supply 

chain for SMMs

Contact www.niimbl.org

NIIMBL: Up Next
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What’s Ahead
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Global Competition:

Reproducing MFG USA Elsewhere

China started up MFG USA-like institutes

• Now: additive manufacturing, batteries

• Next: Flexible electronics, robotics, digital, photonics, lightweight materials

• Planning 40 institutes by 2025 

• China’s 13th national 5-year plan puts 

China Manufacturing 2025 as one of six national priorities 

Canada: “advanced manufacturing 

superclusters”

• $950 million for five innovation ‘superclusters’ awarded 2018

• consortia of small and large businesses, academia, other 

groups

• 1:1 match required; actual $1.5 B match to date

Manufacturing USA reports promptly 

translated into Chinese
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After Network and Institute Start-Up

Questions coming up

1. Post-cooperative agreement institute performance

o Federal involvement necessary for credibility

o Maintain focus on U.S. competitiveness and workforce efforts?

Federal engagement in the long term

1. NIST-led institutes limited to 7 years of federal support

o Other agencies have no limitations imposed by RAMI

o DOD likely to continue support

o DOE unlikely to continue support

2. Support of Network functions

o Continued support by NIST; supported by Administration and Congress

3. Reauthorization of RAMI? Options for support of operations and workforce development?

New institutes 

1. Near and long-term – dependent on appropriations to agencies

o NIST FY 2018 appropriation reduced to $15M from $25M

• NIST competition closed out with only one award – NIIMBL

o DOE – new competition summer 2018

2. Long term – “franchise” model authorized by RAMI
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Metrics are Proxies for Measuring Success:

“Program Purposes” Defined by RAMI

Metric 

Category Specific Metric Unit

Technology 

advancement

1. Number and value of active R&D projects Total number, total 

value

2. Percentage of projects meeting key 

technical objectives Percentage

Catalyzing coinvestment

1. Non-Manufacturing USA contribution 

(membership fees, etc.) Total value

Advanced 

manufacturing 

workforce

1. STEM activities Total number of 

student participants

2. Educator/trainer engagement Total number of 

educators/trainers

U.S. innovation 

ecosystem

1. Partner organizations with Institute 

membership agreement

Total number of 

members

2. Diversity of members Total percentage SMM 

( <500 employees)
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Phased Short and Long-Term Metrics?

Institute-Level: Three Phases

• Start-Up: recruit membership, lay 

groundwork for R&D and workforce efforts

• R&D Execution: complete projects, where 

the results can begin to be measured

• Long-Term: achievement of goals on 

industry and regional basis: 

• technology advancement

• industry competitiveness

• regional macroeconomic results

• industry and regional workforce results

Program-Level: Two Phases 

• Start-Up Support and Shared Services

• Long-Term: achievement of program goals 

on manufacturing sector-wide and national 

basis: 

• economic competitiveness

• macroeconomic results

• workforce results

• fulfillment of agency-specific missions. 

Two parallel task teams: 

1. institute director team for developing institute-level metrics 

2. federal agency team for program-level metrics

Need: Develop metrics at the institute and program levels, focusing on 

U.S. national priorities
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Seeking Feedback

How can we design performance metrics that more 

directly predict or measure impact and 

accomplishment of program goals, especially 

technology diffusion? E.g., – How to measure diffusion of technology beyond institute members?

– How to measure development of the ecosystem?
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Securing

AMERICA’S FUTURE

Making an Impact • 14 institutes developing new 

manufacturing techniques

• 65% of members are from industry • ~300 ongoing major collaborative 

R&D projects

• 200,000 people trained in 

advanced manufacturing

• $1B federal investment matched by 

over $2B non-federal funds

Join us: www.ManufacturingUSA.com @MFGUSA