AM2 Tech Hub conference focuses on advancing the future of manufacturing

Leaders from industry, higher education, government, and workforce development joined Virginia's AM² Tech Hub to launch three days of discussions on the future of manufacturing.

Along with speakers, workshops, and panel discussions, participants got a behind-the-scenes look at the cutting-edge research being done at the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, including:

• DREAMS Lab at Virginia Tech (Christopher Williams, L.S. Randolph Professor, Mechanical Engineering)
• Tallon Ceramic Lab & Advanced Materials Characterization Lab (Carolina Tallon, associate professor in Virginia Tech Materials Science and Engineering)
• Polymer Composite and Materials Lab (Michael Bortner, associate professor in Virginia Tech Department of Chemical Engineering)
• Integrated Computational Materials Engineering for Metal AM (Yao Fu, assistant professor in Kevin T. Crofton Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech)
• ISE Learning Factory and Smart Manufacturing Analytics Research & Technology Lab (Virginia Tech Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering)
• Work led by industry partners such as MELD Manufacturing Corporation

With support from a U.S. Economic Development Administration Tech Hubs Strategy Development grant and a GO Virginia Region 2 grant, the AM² consortium also introduced a roadmap. This roadmap focuses on:

1. Building innovation studios for assistance to businesses,
2. Integrating fellows programs that will accelerate commercialization of technology and processes,
3. Creating a career network to better align workforce training and support services for manufacturing, and
4. Strengthening the consortium to drive greater collaboration in the region.                        

“Our vision for this region is making Virginia a globally competitive destination and home for additive manufacturing and advanced materials solutions,” said Sarah Lyon-Hill, director for research development for the Virginia Tech Center for Economic and Community Engagement. “Our mission is to provide agile, affordable, and resilient solutions for advanced manufacturing through lab-to-market services, business scale-up and technology adoption support as well as talent development, attraction and retention.”

To support implementation, the Tech Hub plans to apply for state and federal funding opportunities totaling up to $60 million. Consortium members will join work groups focused on the four strategic areas in the roadmap to determine how funding is allocated.

“AM² is our next economic opportunity,” said Kevin Byrd, executive director of the New River Valley Regional Commission, which is leading the consortium. “We need industry, education, and research to be the drivers, and we’re here to listen to what your needs are. As a governmental agency, we create an environment for you to step through, whether we are acquiring land or getting utilities to where they need to be.  Us working together and singing off the same songbook is what's going to be most impactful.”

Christopher Williams spoke about Virginia Tech’s leadership in the world of additive manufacturing and advanced materials.

“We are proud of what we have built over a decade here at Virginia Tech in the world of additive,” he said. “We're ranked in the top five in the world as far as additive manufacturing research. We're providing the means to accelerate the technology to learn more. And as a land-grant institution, it's our mission to share our knowledge with our region, to work together to advance and help you, in terms of workforce development and technology adoption.”

Sign up for a work group here.

View the AM² Tech Hub roadmap.