🍂 Celebrating Manufacturing Month 🍂 People, Purpose, and the Power of Innovation

Every October we celebrate Manufacturing Month, where industries and institutions nationwide showcase manufacturing innovations and emphasize the vital role that manufacturing plays in creating jobs and bolstering America’s clean energy economy. Here at AMMTO, Manufacturing Month serves as a beacon, illuminating the transformative work we've completed in the past year, and the work still before us.

Manufacturing Month holds a special significance for AMMTO. Our second annual Manufacturing Day celebration at DOE headquarters not only acknowledged the progress we’ve made, but also doubled down on the fact that, at its core, American manufacturing is driven not by technology but by people. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm joined the event and reminded all in attendance that without a robust and valued manufacturing workforce, American manufacturing competitiveness and resilience is simply not possible.

So, as AMMTO celebrates its first full year, let's not just look back at our achievements but forward, with purposeful resolve, to the boundless possibilities that lie ahead. The manufacturing moment is upon us. Together, let's embrace it.

Learn more about AMMTO’s accomplishments in its first year and where we’re heading as we look toward an equitable clean energy future for all Americans.

See you back here next month,
Chris Saldaña

Energize your Career with AMMTO!

If you are passionate about improving energy and material efficiency, and American manufacturing competitiveness, consider applying to join us.

We are currently hiring for the following positions:

• Next Generation Materials & Processes, Technology Manager

CESMII & CyManII: Smart & Secure Manufacturing at SOUTHTEC 2023

At SOUTHTEC 2023, the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII) and the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CyManII) each held their 2023 member meetings. AMMTO Deputy Director Diana Bauer joined enriching discussions about Smart Manufacturing. CESMII, in partnership with Smart Manufacturing Experience (SME), spotlighted smart manufacturing innovations, while CyManII focused on cybersecurity, showcasing a Cybersecurity Mobile Training Vehicle and hosting cyber cafe sessions. Both institutes emphasized collaborative advancements towards a competitive, secure manufacturing landscape, engaging with diverse manufacturers in pivotal discussions on future industry directions.

REMADE 2023: AMMTO's Chris Saldaña Joins Member Meeting to Discuss the Circular Economy and Clean Energy Manufacturing

At the REMADE Institute's 2023 Member Meeting, representatives from a record 130+ member organizations converged to discuss clean energy manufacturing. Notably, Chris Saldaña, director of DOE's AMMTO, delivered a keynote, emphasizing the shared purpose of advancing circular economy technologies and showcasing American innovation through R&D. The event, enriched by keynote speakers from Rivian and Appvance, numerous panelists, and the hard work of the REMADE team, exemplified a united front towards bolstering the strength and value of the circular economy.

Manufacturing Demonstration Facility and University of Maine Win Big at Composites and Advanced Materials Expo
This week, the Advanced Structures & Composites Center (ASCC) at the University of Maine, in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) won the Combined Strength ACE Award at the Composites and Advanced Materials Expo (CAM-X) 23. The award was given to MDF and ASCC’s BioHome3D, the world’s first fully bio-based, fully-recyclable and composite 3D-printed house. MDF is supported and managed by AMMTO and ASCC is a member of DOE’s Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) and receives additional funding through the Department of Energy.

AMMTO-funded R&D 100 Award Winners for 2023
Our office is proud to congratulate six AMMTO-funded projects that recently received awards of distinction from R&D World magazine. The annual R&D 100 Awards recognize significant breakthroughs in science and innovation across the globe over the past year. We commend the following winning projects for the impact they’ve made: From the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory:

1. Precise, Continuous, & High-Speed Manufacturing of Thermoplastic Composites Using Additive Manufacturing-Compression Molding (AM-CM)
2. Additively Manufactured Thermally Conductive Collimators for Neutron Instrumentation
3. OpeN-AM: A Platform for Operando Neutron Diffraction Measurements of Additive Manufacturing

From the Critical Materials Innovation Hub at Ames National Laboratory:

1. A continuous hot-roll process to manufacture nanograin Neo magnet
2. Critical Rare Earth Free Cerium Gap Magnets

From Idaho National Laboratory and Ames National Laboratory:

1. EASE: Ether-based Aqueous Separations and Extractions

PowerAmerica Powers On
Last month, DOE extended its partnership with  its first Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute, PowerAmerica. With five more years of funding through AMMTO, PowerAmerica will shift  its focus from primarily silicon carbide to equally support gallium nitride-based wide bandgap power electronics devices. In this recently published article from Compound Semiconductor magazine, AMMTO’s director Chris Saldaña recognizes PowerAmerica's accomplishments, including spawning over ten wide bandgap technologies and enabling the commercialization of multiple projects.

Building Better Blades: Renewed Funding Supports Wind Turbine Blade Innovations at NREL
With a pivotal focus on fostering sustainability and efficiency in wind turbine blade manufacturing, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has embraced the challenge of crafting larger, more durable, and ideally recyclable turbine blades. The collective endeavor spearheaded by Derek Berry, a senior wind technology engineer at NREL, and other dedicated researchers, propels the drive towards creating longer lightweight blades that promise to harness more energy, hence, curtailing the levelized cost of wind energy. This research was funded through the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), an AMMTO Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation institute which was renewed in April 2023.

CyManII Receives $500,000 U.S. Economic Development Administration Grant to Build Secure Manufacturing Hub in South Texas
This grant, part of the Tech Hubs Strategy Development Grant initiative, propels the mission to establish a Secure Manufacturing Hub in South Texas, aimed at advancing secure manufacturing strategies in the region strengthening business competitiveness and training a skilled workforce. This funding will initially be used to form the Secure Manufacturing in South Texas Strategy Development Consortium. Funded by  AMMTO, in consultation with the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER), CyManII aims to enhance the U.S. manufacturing sector's cybersecurity and resilience.