Experts launch advanced composites institute announced by Obama, led by UT

Posted at 9:57 am June 18, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 1 Comment

Craig Blue, David Danielson, and David Millhorn

Pictured above are Craig Blue, IACMI CEO; David Danielson assistant secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy; and David Millhorn, executive vice president for the University of Tennessee System and president of the UT Research Foundation. (Photo courtesy UT)

ORNL a founding partner

Hundreds of composites experts from industry, government, and academia gathered at the Knoxville Convention Center on Wednesday for the launch of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, or IACMI.

The University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are among IACMI’s founding research partners.

A signing ceremony between the U.S. Department of Energy and IACMI representatives marked the official start of business for the newly established institute, which was announced in January by President Barack Obama.

IACMI will work with industry to reduce technical risk and develop a robust supply chain for advanced composite materials in automotive components, wind turbines, and compressed gas storage applications. Funded with $70 million in federal funds and more than $180 million in nonfederal funds, IACMI will focus on making advanced fiber-reinforced polymer composites less expensive and less energy-intensive, helping give America’s resurging manufacturing sector a more competitive edge in the global economy.

“The DOE investment in IACMI will catalyze increased production capacity of carbon fiber and other materials important to U.S. leadership in advanced composite manufacturing,” said IACMI Chief Executive Officer Craig Blue.

The IACMI team, a 123-member consortium headquartered in Tennessee, is led and operated by a not-for-profit established by the University of Tennessee Research Foundation that connects the world’s leading manufacturers across the supply chain with universities and national laboratories pioneering advanced composites technology development and research, a press release said.

“We look forward to working with the composites industry—OEMs, their supply chains, and small and medium enterprises—around accelerating innovation,” said Taylor Eighmy, co-chair of IACMI’s board. “Composites are critical to our national economy and we have a wonderful chance to position our economy at the leading edge for the next few decades.”

IACMI is the fifth institute chosen in support of the president’s overall vision for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. The public-private partnership was selected through a competitive process led by the Advanced Manufacturing Office within the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

In addition to UT and ORNL, the institute’s founding research partners include Colorado (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), Indiana (Purdue University), Michigan (Michigan State University), Ohio (University of Dayton Research Institute), and Kentucky (University of Kentucky).

For more information about IACMI, visit http://www.iacmi.org.

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