ARM Institute Awarded American Rescue Act Grants to Increase Access to Advanced Manufacturing Opportunities
The ARM Institute is included in two of thirteen funded projects that focus on improving U.S. manufacturing resiliency and pandemic preparedness
March 29, 2022 – The ARM Institute is proud to be included in grants for two of the 13 projects recently selected by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to fund high-impact projects for research, development, and testbeds for pandemic response. The ARM Institute will lead one project and participate in another led by partner institute Advanced Functional Fabrics of America Inc (AFFOA).
“Rebuilding our manufacturing economy is an essential component to strengthening our communities and creating opportunity for all Americans,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in a press release by NIST. “The breadth and variety of these awards shows that manufacturing can be an economic driver in every community. From creating an advanced manufacturing testbed in Appalachia, to building clean, reliable power in Native American communities, these grants are essential to creating manufacturing jobs and skills in every corner of America.”
“The ARM Institute’s leadership and involvement on these projects demonstrates the importance of the Manufacturing USA Network and Manufacturing Innovation Institutes to our nation’s resiliency,” stated Arnie Kravitz, ARM Institute Chief Innovation Officer, “We were able to rapidly collaborate with our fellow Institutes and member organizations to propose high-impact projects that will enable a stronger national manufacturing infrastructure to navigate the current COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate future pandemics and similar crises.”
The two projects that received grants are as follows:
Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute (ARM), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — $4,933,561 total funding. This project will create the Robotics and Automation Decision Framework for Agility and Resilience (RADAR) that will allow small and medium-sized manufacturers to systematically evaluate the cost-to-benefit ratio of integrating robotics and automation into manufacturing processes to support coronavirus response. The ARM Institute leads this project working with six partner organizations: Secure America Institute, Georgia Tech, GE, TMAC, Morgan State University, and Deloitte.
Advanced Functional Fabrics of America Inc. (AFFOA), Cambridge, Massachusetts — $11,116,420 total funding. The ARM Institute is a partner on this project that seeks to enable manufacturing automation and supply chain diversification, and to address the environmental impact of PPE. More than 12 partner organizations will work on this project, including the ARM Institute and the following ARM Institute Members: Bluewater Defense, Henderson Sewing, Carnegie Mellon University, Siemens, and Sewbo.
The complete funding package, which was provided by NIST through the American Rescue Act, supports 13 projects at eight Institutes in the Manufacturing USA® network, working with more 80 partners, including leading research universities, nonprofits, and small and large manufacturers. Access the full list of funded projects here: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2022/02/commerce-department-awards-54-million-american-rescue-act-grants-increase
ABOUT THE ARM INSTITUTE
The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Agreement Number W911NF-17-3-0004 and is part of the Manufacturing USA network. The ARM Institute leverages a unique, robust, and diverse ecosystem of 300+ consortium members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen our economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience. Based in Pittsburgh, PA since 2017, the ARM Institute is leading the way to a future where people & robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products. For more information, visit www.arminstitute.org and follow the ARM Institute on LinkedIn and Twitter.