Deadline Nears to Submit NAMII Research Proposals
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A project call is approaching the end of this month for proposals for the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, which is opening its membership to the broader public beyond the initial proposal members.
“Now it’s open to anyone who wants to join,” says Darrell Wallace, acting deputy director for workforce and educational outreach for NAMII.
NAMII also is preparing to bring on board its new executive director, Edward A. Morris in a few weeks. As the new NAMII Director, Morris will resign from his current position as the director of mechanical engineering and manufacturing for Lockheed Martin’s corporate engineering and technology team
“We’re excited about the momentum we’ve gained and can continue to ride moving forward,” said Scott Deutsch, manager of communications and special programs at the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, which was awarded the contract to manage NAMII. NAMII is the first of a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation established last year by the Obama Administration.
Additive manufacturing is a process whereby parts and assemblies are built up layer by layer, as opposed to traditional subtractive manufacturing, “where typically we’ll start with a big block of material and then we’ll remove the material that we don’t need,” Wallace said.
The project call went out in November and the deadline for submissions is Jan. 31, Deutsch said. The purpose of the project call is to solicit competitive applied research proposals for one of three technical topic areas. One is materials characterization and performance, “understanding what properties and materials we currently have to offer as well as establishing a characterization for materials moving forward,” he said.
NAMII also is looking at qualification and certification, and process capability and characterization/process control in the project call.
“It’s important that we understand what the processes are doing and what they're doing to the materials that we're building from,” Deutsch said.
Proposals must have a transition plan and a workforce development aspect. Developing both the existing and future workforce is “a big thrust of what NAMII’s about,” he explained.
NAMII is anticipating a potential second project call to be announced at the RAPID Additive Manufacturing Solutions Conference and Exposition taking place this June in Pittsburgh. Hosted by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Rapid is “the premiere show for additive manufacturing,” Deutsch said.
“We’re excited to be part of that. We’re excited that it’s here in the Tech Belt region,” he said.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.