The NCMS is moving forward with the development of a national innovation network; a knowledge infrastructure which leverages the wealth of talent, ideas and facilities within our nation’s universities, national labs and industrial research centers so we can innovate smarter, faster and more predictably.
One of these efforts is a collaborative project with the University of Michigan’s Tauber Institute for Global Operations, a joint program of the College of Engineering and Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. The Institute meets industry’s need for a new kind of graduate — one who has an exceptional academic background, extensive professional experience, and can successfully integrate business and engineering perspectives to lead global operations into the future.
Two Tauber students, Samuel Jih and Michael Trent, are working this summer with NCMS to review the overall Predictive Innovation Center (PIC) strategy and develop a business plan for a NCMS facilitated pilot center. The successful implementation of this strategy will be achieved through effectively communicating the efficiency, affordability and value of HPC tools to the U.S. manufacturing supply base.
Recently, Samuel Jih and Michael Trent traveled to Washington, DC with NCMS Executive Director Jon Riley and NCMS Senior Vice President Rebecca Taylor to meet with key congressional members and DC-based partner organizations about the PIC initiative. They met directly with Senator Levin (D-MI) and Congressman Dingle (D-MI) and briefed the staff of both Senator Stabenow (D-MI) and Congressman Lipinski (D-IL) about the PIC initiative.
They also had the opportunity to meet with representatives from the Office of Science and Technology Policy to discuss concepts related to Alternative Energy (SmartGrid) PICs, pilot centers partnering with large US OEMs and their supply chains, and how to improve our nation’s small and medium manufacturers (SMEs) ability to access and engage our national labs.
The NCMS-Tauber collaboration is an outstanding example of how the NCMS is bringing together industry, academia, and government leaders to create the future of North American Manufacturing.
