The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) hosted a meeting on March 1st to rally support for a digital manufacturing strategic interest group whose mission as a public-private partnership will be to foster the growth and competitiveness of all US manufacturers by promoting, improving and integrating the use of smart digital manufacturing technology. In attendance were such corporate giants GE, IBM, Intel, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft and Rockwell Automation. In all over 30 organizations and over 50 people were in attendance representing industry, government, and academia. Speakers from NCMS, Intersect360 Research, Intel, and NSF discussed the merits of moving forward with this effort. The meeting closed with a resounding affirmation to move forward.
A Strategic Interest Group (SIG) is a collection of like-minded, cross-industry people who share a common vision. Together they help shape the technology and drive innovations into the hands of people who need it. The NCMS will the serve the SIG as an impartial third party guiding the overall collaboration to help deliver funding opportunities and research projects.
For the past year NCMS, in collaboration with the Alliance for High Performance Digital Manufacturing (AHPDM), has been building awareness regarding the need in our nation to break down the barriers hindering manufacturers from affordably accessing these technologies. The purpose of the SIG will be to guide the development and growth of the associated technologies, including a national network of HPC assets available over the web as a service to manufacturers. Group subcommittees will work with universities, manufacturers, providers and funding partners to continue to build awareness, expand the capability base, and provide the necessary tools and training.
Development of a SIG charter is already underway, with the primary objective being to break down barriers to entry and bring solutions to manufacturers of all sizes. Future efforts and meeting dates will be communicated in the very near future.
If you are interested in more information or want to become a part of this SIG please contact Jon Riley at jonr@ncms.org.
