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NCMS FORMS CONSORTIUM TO MEET DoD ROBOTICS CHALLENGE

Will Drive Ground Robotics Innovations to Operational Deployment

ANN ARBOR, MI – July 8, 2008. The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) has formed a not-for-profit subsidiary to speed the development and deployment of innovative defense ground robotics technology.  The Robotics Technology Consortium (RTC) was created to meet a need identified by the Office of the Secretary of Defense Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise (OSD/JGRE) to speed innovation from the lab to operational deployment. 

“NCMS has been successfully commercializing innovative technology for over twenty years,” said Rick Jarman, President and CEO of NCMS, and the interim Chairman of the RTC.  “We have a proven history of getting technology to market faster and are pleased to have the seventy-seven members of the Robotics Technology Consortium join us as we drive innovations from the lab to the front lines where it is desperately needed.”

NCMS has a proven track record of rapid technology commercialization and experience in forming cross-industry R&D projects which will help RTC expand its membership to organizations of all sizes including non-traditional defense contractors. 

"Ground robots are proven life savers for our Service members and industry has offered a first class response to our need for advancing robotics with the establishment of this consortium,” said Ellen Purdy, Enterprise Director, Joint Ground Robotics.  “The Department looks forward to partnering with the RTC as it enables us to work with the best and brightest in industry and academia."

The RTC will support top-tier research within the robotic technology community to speed the deployment of technology from the lab to operational deployment.  To meet this goal the RTC is open to traditional and non-traditional government contractors, small and large businesses, for-profit and not-for-profit entities, and academic organizations.  Members will perform R&D and provide input on strategies for government agencies executing ground robotics programs.
 

About NCMS

The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) is the largest cross-industry collaborative research and development consortium in North America, and is the only consortial effort in the U.S. devoted exclusively to manufacturing technologies, processes and practices. NCMS has over 20 years of experience in the formation and management of complex, multi-partner collaborative R&D programs, and is backed by corporate members representing virtually every manufacturing sector.

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

About RTC

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 RTC was formed by request of the Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise, an office within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and consists of large and small commercial companies, academic institutions, and non-profit organizations.  The RTC seeks to solicit and engage companies and organizations that may have not 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/

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