BAE Systems is a global company engaged in the development, delivery and support of advanced defense, security and aerospace systems in the air, on land and at sea.

http://www.baesystems.com/

The Air Force and NAVAIR are the primary sponsors of the project  and additional project participants are welcome but must bring value to the collaboration.

NCMS Program Manager Bill Chenevert at (734) 995-7989 or billc@ncms.org

Eastern Instrumentation is a manufacturer’s representative bringing high technology and cutting edge manufacturing and test solutions to military and commercial customers in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware area.

http:///www.eiphila.com

3M is a diversified technology company serving customers and communities with innovative products and services.  They are primarily science based and are a world-leader in scores of markets from healthcare and highway safety to abrasives and adhesives.

http://www.3m.com/

NCMS Art Director Christopher Fick has been recognized for his outstanding creativity with three American Graphic Design Awards.

The American Graphic Design Award competition is in its fourth decade and recognizes outstanding new work in 23 categories from print and packaging to internet and interactive design.  The competition is open to everyone in the graphic arts community - graphic design firms, advertising agencies, inhouse corporate and institutional designers, publishers and other media. 

Award Category- Print Collateral.  This image communicates the many benefits of the NCMS Collaborative model.  It is the cornerstone slide of the NCMS PowerPoint presentation used to promote the organization.

Award Category- Poster.  This image communicates the new vision and scope of NCMS activities.

Award Category- Multimedia.  This multimedia holiday card appeared on the NCMS web site. 

Please stop by Booth 333 to see these member companies showcasing technology created using the NCMS collaborative process.

• REI Systems , complete predictive diagnostic and repair suite for aircraft
• Aspire Solutions, Inc., automated process & inspection guide.
• Spectro, Inc., FluidScan, quickly evaluates fluid quality using infrared spectroscopy
• Centerline, LTD., advanced kinetic spray repair process.

 For more information contact Debbie Lilu at debral@ncms.org or call (734) 995-7038.

Richard McCormack is the editor and publisher of Manufacturing & Technology News, a publication he created in 1994.  As a Washington, D.C. based journalist, he has covered science, technology, industry and government for 26 years, specializing in economic competitiveness and globalization.

Richard is the editor of Manufacturing a Better Future for America which argues that there has never been a more critical time to rebuild the foundation of America's economy.  But manufacturing in America is in serious decline, with over 40,000 factory closures and more than five million jobs lost over the last decade alone.  

How can the United States industrial sector be revived?

The Alliance for American Manufacturing-- an innovative partnership of the United Steelworkers union and leading U.S. manufacturers-- asked some of the brightest minds in America for their ideas. 'Manufacturing a Better Future for America' details the challenges and opportunities the country faces at this critical time: trade policy, skills and training, research and development, national security, supply chains, new technology, and globalization.

NCMS Radio: Richard McCormack "Manufacturing a Better Future for America" (24:37)

The book is also available online at the Alliance for American Manufacturing web site.

Subscribe to NCMS Radio on iTunes- search for NCMS.

NCMS Member company Stratasys has been recognized by the UK based magazine the Economist as being the market leader in fused deposit modeling 3-D printing in the quarterly technology feature. 

...Stratasys, based in Minneapolis, is the market leader in this field. This approach involves unwinding a filament of thermoplastic material from a spool and feeding it through a moving extrusion nozzle, heating the material to melt it and deposit it in the desired pattern on the build tray. The material then hardens to form the solid parts required in each layer. As subsequent layers are added the molten thermoplastic fuses to the layers below. In areas such as overhangs, physical supports can be added and removed later, or water-soluble materials can be deposited and then washed away.  Full Article

Stratasys has been a member of NCMS since 1999 and is a technology provider to the Rapid Manufacturing and Repair program.

About the RM&R RARE Parts program

The RM&R program introduces DoD organic maintenance activities to the range and capabilities of additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and the benefits that can be derived through their use within the DoD maintenance base.  AM technologies can provide timely solutions to RARE part replacement (legacy parts, obsolete parts, parts no longer available due to diminishing manufacturing resources.)  In addition to its technology insertion work, the RM&R program champions and advocates AM industry advancements and maturation through activities such as the establishment and participation on the ASTM F-42 Additive Manufacturing Standards Committee.

For more information about the Rapid Manufacturing and Repair program please contact:

NCMS Program Manager Connie Philips conniep@ncms.org

Universities, Research Labs, and Companies Create Ground Vehicle Technologies

Ann Arbor, MI., September 2, 2009 – The Robotics Technology Consortium, Inc. (RTC) today announced that the Government has awarded nine winners of its second round of projects totaling $3.62 million.  These teams will undertake the research required to further develop innovative technologies that add capabilities to the currently deployed unmanned ground vehicle and enable future unmanned ground systems.

The winning team leads and projects are:

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory -  “Autonomous Stair Climbing for Portable  Unmanned Ground Vehicles”
• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - “Fast 3D Reconstruction and Visualization for Explosive Ordnance Disposal for Unmanned Ground Vehicles (EOD for UGVs)”
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) -  “Rapid 3D Object Visualization for Mobile Robots”
• Photon-X -  “Miniature 3D Spatial Phase Sensors”
• Vecna Corporation - “Automated Tool Change”
• AnthroTronix, Inc. - “Instrumented Glove-Based System (iGlove-3) for Controlling High-DOF Manipulators”
• General Dynamics Robotic Systems - “Untitled Proposal”
• TORC Technologies - “Autonomous Remote Control HMMWV (ARCH)”
• iRobot Corporation - “Autonomous: Supervisory Control with Enhanced Situational Awareness”

In May 2008, the RTC entered into a $170M Other Transactions Agreement (OTA) with the Department of Defense to better enable non-traditional defense contractors to undertake technical projects on behalf of the Government.  Since then, the Government has awarded a total of 16 projects, worth $8,371,882.00 involving 35 member companies (15 non-traditional), universities, and non-profit organizations.

"Winners in this second round of funding includes universities, research labs, and companies,” said Ellen Purdy, Enterprise Director, OSD/Joint Ground Robotics. “It is great to see the entire community working together to advance the field and get technology into the hands of our warfighters.”

“It took only 107 days from the request for project proposals posting on our web pages to having the entire set of winners under contract”, said Helen Greiner the elected President of the RTC, “and we are very proud of our ability to support small research efforts rapidly and cost-effectively.”

Membership to the Robotics Technology Consortium is open to U.S. based companies, non-profits, and universities.

For more information please contact:

Phil Callihan, philc@ncms.org, (734)995-2046.

About Robotics Technology Consortium

The Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC) is a non-profit, industry organization created in 2008 to speed the creation and deployment of ground robotics technology for the Defense Department and other Government organizations. The consortium was established to meet a need identified by the Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise (OSD/JGRE).  The RTC currently has a membership of over 160 large and small commercial companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations. The RTC seeks to solicit and engage companies and organizations that may not have historically performed work for the Defense Department and other Government organizations in addition to traditional defense contractors.

For more information, visit http://www.roboticstechc.org/.

About NCMS

The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) in Ann Arbor Michigan is the largest cross-industry collaborative R&D consortium in North America. NCMS has a 23-year track record in the management of complex, collaborative programs which deliver innovative manufacturing technology to market faster than traditional methods.  The RTC was formed as a non-profit, supporting organization of NCMS, who also serves as the RTC administrative agent.

For more information, visit http://www.ncms.org.

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