COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State is one of the beneficiaries of a year-old promise by President Barack Obama to create two Pentagon-led institutes that will foster manufacturing innovation.
Obama announced the establishment of the two facilities at the White House today, fulfilling a 2013 State of the Union promise to create three manufacturing hubs with a federal infusion of $200 million.
A $148 million manufacturing research institute in Canton, Mich. — will focus on light metal manufacturing. OSU, the University of Michigan and the Columbus-based Edison Welding Institute are part of a consortium of universities, companies and nonprofits that will operate the institute, according to OSU officials.
The facility in the president’s hometown of Chicago will concentrate on high-tech digital manufacturing and design. The first facility — an Energy Department-led project in Raleigh, N.C. – was announced in January.
The institutes bring together companies, federal agencies and universities to work on technologies that can boost manufacturing.
OSU officials say the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute could create as many as 10,000 new jobs in the Midwest in the next five years.
The White House says institute will make the U.S. more competitive in the area of products made with lightweight metals: automobiles, wind turbines, medical devices, engines, commercial aircraft, and weapons.
The Navy asked for an institute that focused on lightweight and modern metals and officials say technologies and materials it develops can also be used in business.
The materials and technology can be used in hulls for new naval ships, and lighter, safer and more energy efficient cars and the institute will help train workers to use the new technology, university officials said.
The Department of Defense awarded the team $70 million for the new institute. The state has committed $10 million and $5 million is coming from OSU.