America Makes announces $10M award to University of Dayton Research Institute
America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, announced today that the University of Dayton Research Institute has been awarded a Directed Project Opportunity.
At a press conference this morning in the Center for Innovation in Additive Manufacturing at Youngstown State Univresity, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan joined officials from UDRI, YSU and America Makes to discuss the significance and impact of the award on Northeast Ohio, where half of the 25 project team’s partners are located.
UDRI is the principal investigator on the project, and YSU is the co-leader of the technical efforts.
The Directed Project Opportunity focuses on Maturation of Advanced Manufacturing for Low-cost Sustainment and is funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing and Industrial Base Technology Division.
In attendance at press conference was Ralph Resnick, NCDMM President and Executive Director and America Makes Founding Director; U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan; John E. Leland, PhD, PE, Vice President for Research and UDRI Executive Director; YSU President Jim Tressel; Youngstown Mayor John McNally; and representing the 910thAir Wing from the Youngstown-Warren Air Reserve Station, Ohio, are: Col. James D. Dignan, Col. David C. Post, SMSgt Michael Birmingham, and SMSgt Phil Aliberti.
Driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), America Makes will award $8 million in AFRL funding under the Institute’s new Cooperative Agreement with AFRL toward the project with $2.87 million in matching cost share from the award project team for total funding worth $10.87 million.
UDRI was initially notified as the awardee at a special, America Makes members-only event held in April on the campus of the University of Dayton where the entire project team, along with America Makes personnel and Air Force officials, gathered for the award of this important AFRL research.
“On behalf of all of us at America Makes, we congratulate UDRI, YSU, and their team on the Directed Project Opportunity Award,” said America Makes Director of Operations Rob Gorham. “This project is significant on a number of levels. It marks the first funded project under our new, five-year Cooperative Agreement with AFRL. It is also an important area of research not only for the Air Force, but for the entire military and manufacturing community as well. Lastly, the impact of this project on the Northeast Ohio region with the strong showing from Ohio-based companies is tremendous, underscoring the manufacturing innovation coming out of the Youngstown and Mahoning Valley region. We are very excited to get this effort underway.”
The UDRI-led project team is comprised of Ohio-based organizations, including YSU, Bastech Inc., Case Western Reserve University, Deloitte Services, DRT Mfg. Co., GE Aviation, Humtown Products,
M-7 Technologies, Slice Manufacturing Studios, and Youngstown Business Incubator along with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) and AFRL out of Dayton and the 910th Airlift Wing out of Youngstown. Also joining the Ohio-based project team are other additive manufacturing leaders, including 3D Systems Corporation, American Foundry Society, Boeing Company, Honeywell International Inc., Lockheed Martin, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, Optomec, Pennsylvania State University, Raytheon, and the University of Northern Iowa.
The project team will be working directly with AF officials from its three Air Logistics Complexes located at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, Hill AFB in Utah, and Tinker AFB in Oklahoma, in conjunction with other Air Force units and other Department of Defense bases and depots.
The object of this Direct Project Opportunity is to enhance and improve Air Force sustainment operations through the development, demonstration, and transition of additive manufacturing and related advanced manufacturing technologies. The program is aimed at improving efficiency of the factory and/or Air Force Air Logistics Complexes for rapid part replacement for legacy and other aircraft.
“This Directed Project Opportunity represents the largest additive manufacturing focused effort on sustainment, maintenance, and repair technologies ever organized to date,” said America Makes Deputy Director of Technology Development John Wilczynski. “Maintaining its fleet in a cost-efficient manner using advanced manufacturing technologies, including additive manufacturing, is critical to the strategic readiness of the Air Force today and into the future. Through its outlined approach combined with the diverse project team assembled and led by UDRI, a research leader in its own right, the Institute is highly optimistic that the resulting outcome will successfully address the Air Force’s sustainment needs and possibly extend beyond the Air Force to other military branches.”
Currently, sustainment poses a number of challenges to keeping aerospace systems across all AF legacy aircraft ready and available. With this project, the Air Force is specifically interested in exploring the benefits of additive manufacturing, along with related advanced manufacturing technologies like reverse engineering tools, scanners, CAD systems, non-destructive evaluation systems, and in what capacity they can lend themselves in solving sustainment-related challenges. The project will baseline the use of additive manufacturing in the sustainment community, especially for indirect, tooling-type applications; assess best practices for the use of additive manufacturing for sustainment; recommend transition of best practices to the Air Force Air Complexes; and demonstrate the benefits that can be leveraged by using an additive manufacturing-based approach.
About America Makes
America Makes is the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. As the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing (3DP), America Makes is the nation’s leading and collaborative partner in AM and 3DP technology research, discovery, creation, and innovation. Structured as a public-private partnership with member organizations from industry, academia, government, non-government agencies, and workforce and economic development resources, we are working together to innovate and accelerate AM and 3DP to increase our nation’s global manufacturing competitiveness. Based in Youngstown, Ohio, America Makes is the flagship Institute for the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) infrastructure and is driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). For more information about America Makes, visit https://www.americamakes.us/.
About the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining
The NCDMM delivers optimized manufacturing solutions that enhance the quality, affordability, maintainability, and rapid deployment of existing and yet-to-be developed defense systems. This is accomplished through collaboration with government, industry, and academic organizations to promote the implementation of best practices to key stakeholders through the development and delivery of disciplined training, advanced technologies, and methodologies. For additional information, visit the NCDMM at ncdmm.org.
About the Air Force Research Laboratory
Headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, the Air Force Research Laboratory was created in October 1997 with the mission to lead the discovery, development, and integration of warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace forces. AFRL employs approximately 10,000 military and civilian personnel. It is responsible for managing and annual $4.4 billion (Fiscal Year 2014) science and technology program that includes both Air Force and customer funded research and development. AFRL investment includes basic research, applied research and advanced technology development in air, space, and cyber mission areas. For more information, visit https://www.afrl.af.mil/.
About the University of Dayton Research Institute
The University of Dayton Research Institute is a national leader in scientific and engineering research, serving government, industry and nonprofit customers. Established as the research arm of the University of Dayton in 1956, UDRI performed more than $98 million in sponsored research in fiscal year 2015. The University of Dayton Research Institute is ranked third in the nation among all colleges and universities for sponsored materials research, according to the National Science Foundation. In Ohio, UDRI is number one among nonprofit institutions receiving contracts and grants from the Department of Defense. For more information about UDRI, visit www.udri.udayton.edu.
About Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University is a comprehensive urban research university that offers nearly 13,000 students more than 135 undergraduate and graduate programs backed by a strong tradition of teaching, scholarship, and public service. As a major educational and economic development resource in the region, YSU is known for its focus on academic research and creative programs that transform its students into successful professionals, scholars, and leaders. Located in the heart of the Tech Belt between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, YSU provides opportunities for students to actively participate with accomplished faculty on advanced research and creative collaborations. YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics is home to the Center for Innovation in Manufacturing and the PhD program in Material Science and Engineering.