Highlights include:
- In fiscal year 2019, the institutes:
- worked with 1,920 member organizations, 61% are manufacturers and ~70% of those are small companies (less than 500 employees)
- conducted 561 major research and development projects
- engaged 39,876 students, workers and teachers in advanced manufacturing workforce development and training
- invested $488 million in these activities from state, industry and federal funds
- Rapid responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, mobilizing members and regional partners to expand production of PPE, increase testing capacity, provide workforce training and more
- Strengthening the nation’s manufacturing supply chains
- Building innovation ecosystems to effectively collaborate on applied R&D, moving American discoveries into production
- Empowering the next generation workforce through activities with national partners, such as the NIIMBL eXperience with HBCUs and BioFabUSA working with FIRST Robotics to develop a biofabrication experience for grade school students
- Rethinking Manufacturing, a short documentary featuring America Makes and two young engineers in Youngstown, Ohio, won three regional Emmy Awards
- A whole-of-government approach to strengthen American economic competitiveness and help ensure that what is invented here is made here by a skilled American workforce.
Read the full report here.