President announces new manufacturing innovation institutes

President Barack Obama last week announced competitions to create five new manufacturing research institutes. The institutes are part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, which aims to bring academia, industry, and government together to work on important research challenges facing manufacturing. The proposed institutes include one focused on redesigning chemical and fuel manufacturing and another aimed at improving reuse and recycling in manufacturing funded by the Department of Energy. An institute funded by the Department of Defense will create new cell and tissue manufacturing technologies. The funding agencies will hold competitions to select teams to get up to $800 million in funds for the five institutes. Of the 15 institutes the President promised to create during his Administration, nine have already been launched.