NAMII, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, and driven by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), announced it has been awarded a $5M grant for additive manufacturing research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Led by NAMII and principal collaborators EWI, Concurrent Technologies Corp., and the University of Louisville, along with 23 partners from industry, universities, and national laboratories, NAMII’s awarded proposal focuses on a three-part research plan to ensure that quality parts are produced and certified for use in products made by a variety of industries and supply chains. The emphasis of the research is to develop specific tools needed for additive manufacturing applications to progress from prototype to market ready.

The grant to NAMII is one of two awarded by NIST. The second award, totaling $2.4M, was awarded to NAMII member, Northern Illinois University, and its principal collaborators. The competitively awarded grants, which are two years in duration, were made through NIST’s Measurement Science for Advanced Manufacturing (MSAM) Cooperative Agreement Program.

“I am especially pleased that NAMII and our partners were awarded the full $5M program for our proposed three-part plan,” said NAMII Director and NCDMM Vice President Ed Morris. “We are eager to move ahead with our research and development efforts to advance the capabilities of tools and processes required for producing highly accurate, quality, certified products using additive manufacturing technologies. Additionally, we look forward to closely collaborating with Northern Illinois University, a NAMII member, and its collaborators. These important measurement and standards research projects will directly and positively benefit our NAMII members and the U.S. additive manufacturing community.”

Of NAMII’s win, Ralph Resnick, NCDMM President and Executive Director, and NAMII Founding Director added that, “Securing this toughly competed program is a testament to the NAMII staff’s hard work, as well as the collective vision and dedicated cooperation of NAMII partners. Improved measurement and standards are critical elements for the accelerated insertion of additive technologies into mainstream manufacturing. We are grateful that NIST recognized the significance of this innovation space and are honored to be chosen to address the technical challenges.”

The other 23 partners collaborating in the NAMII-led research effort include: Georgia Tech, University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Stratonics, B6Sigma, Paramount Industries, General Electric (Aviation and Inspection Technologies), North Carolina State University, Lockheed Martin, Pratt & Whitney, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Texas El Paso, Penn State University, Northrup Grumman, Boeing, Stryker, Harvest Technologies, Solid Concepts, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Imaginestics, M7 Technologies, and Ingersoll Machine Tools.

Upon the announcement of the awards, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher said, “Improving additive manufacturing is an important part of the administration’s efforts to help U.S. manufacturers by supporting new opportunities to innovate. The public-private partnerships led by NAMII and Northern Illinois University are tackling important measurement science-related barriers that must be overcome before this cutting-edge technology can be more widely used, helping America remain innovative and globally competitive.”

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