America Makes celebrates five year anniversary
America Makes, Ohio, USA, celebrated its fifth anniversary on August 16, 2017, in a ceremony at its Innovation Factory in Youngstown. Both America Makes’ Executive Director Rob Gorham and Founding Director Ralph Resnick spoke during the event, summarising the achievements of the last five years and offering an overview of the future of the Institute in the next five years.
“There’s no question that America Makes has accomplished a great deal in its first five years,” stated Resnick. “Not only did America Makes pave the way for the Institutes to follow within the Manufacturing USA network as a trailblazing and successful example of the public-private partnership and collaborative model, but we also made substantial contributions to advance the AM industry, fostering a highly collaborative infrastructure for the open exchange of AM information and research.”
“America Makes is the first Manufacturing USA institute to reach this initial five-year milestone,” added Tracy Frost, Director, DoD Manufacturing USA Institutes, and Acting Director, DoD ManTech Program. “Throughout the past five years, the America Makes team has created a collaborative environment that has already started to bring technology advancements from the lab to the factory floor, produce more competitive products and reaffirm the United States’ place of leadership in the global manufacturing market.”
As a public-private partnership, America Makes currently has a membership community comprised of more than 180 member organisations, and states that it brings together technical minds from government, industry and academia to create a hub of advanced manufacturing innovation in AM. Since its inception, America Makes has established and managed a $100 million technology R&D and workforce portfolio, funding 66 projects.
“On behalf of the Department of Defense, I congratulate the Institute on its incredible accomplishments to date and look forward to continuing to work side by side with America Makes in full support of the Institute’s plans for the future,” added Frost. “DoD Manufacturing USA Institutes, which includes America Makes, represent $500 million in manufacturing investment.”
“I have complete confidence that the Institute will continue to accelerate the adoption of AM technologies in the US manufacturing sector and increase domestic manufacturing competitiveness. The Department of Defense looks forward to continuing to strengthen our already strong public-private partnership with America Makes,” she concluded.
“Moving forward, I see America Makes defined by three main roles,” stated Gorham. “First, as an impartial convener of AM stakeholders; second, as a coordinator of technical and workforce information and data; and lastly, as an activation catalyst through high-value, high-difficulty, and high-impact projects. We have rolled out support mechanisms, in the form of methodologies and technologies, to enable the Institute to succeed in these crucial roles.”
