(Manufacturing.net) — The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today announced $4 million in grants to help develop research plans that address some of the biggest challenges that are currently impeding the growth of advanced manufacturing in the U.S. These grants, which will range between $250,000 and $500,000, will be administered by NIST’s new Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech) Program, subject to the availability of funds.
NIST says that nonprofit U.S. organizations, in addition to higher education institutions, are eligible to apply for the program, and is encouraging teams to collaborate or form partnerships between companies, universities or government agencies.
AMTech was funded by Congress this fiscal year, and will attempt to encourage consortia-planned and led research on pre-competitive industrial research needs. In particular, the group is designed to address the weakness in the nation’s innovation ecosystem, which the NIST defines as a gap between R&D activities and the deployment of these innovations to actual production.
AMTech plans on providing funds in two broad areas: planning awards and implementation awards, beginning with a focus on planning. Full details to apply for a grant can be found at www.grants.gov under the funding opportunity number 2013-NIST-AMTECH-01. The deadline for full applications is 11:59 p.m. Easter time on October 21, 2013.
The new awards come on the heels of more government investment in advanced manufacturing, such as the Youngstown, Ohio-based National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII), which aims to provide a collaborative arena and necessary funding to bring more advanced additive manufacturing technology to American manufacturers of all types.
Learn more at https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2013/07/nist-amtech-program-announces-grants-industry-led-consortia-explore-issues.
