IACMI hosted its Summer 2022 Members Meeting in Salt Lake City June 28-30 in partnership with the Utah Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Initiative (UAMMI), as well as sponsors American Chemistry Council Plastics Division, Dassault Systèmes, TPI Composites, Composites One, Berndorf, Vartega and the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity.
The in-person meeting connected more than 200 industry leaders from major OEMs, small to medium sized companies, national laboratories, government agencies and academic institutions. The three-day meeting featured speakers on topics related to Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office (DOE AMO) priorities to accelerate domestic manufacturing, sustainability, and IACMI Working Group meetings focusing on market-driven themes and advanced technology.
Thank you to all the IACMI members who attended and participated. We appreciate your time and engagement, as well as the collaborative spirit to convene and connect in-person as we aim to accelerate advanced composites design, manufacturing, technical innovation, and workforce solutions.
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Held at the Sheraton Salt Lake City Hotel, the event featured an impressive speaker lineup of industry leaders, including:
- Dr. Diana Bauer, Acting Director, AMO within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, DOE
- Adele Ratcliff, Director of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy.
- Jeff Sloan, Editor, CompositesWorld
- Zack Valdez, NIST Office of Advanced Manufacturing, Manufacturing USA
DOE AMO: Accelerate Decarbonization
“There is an opportunity for next generation composites to help to drive the advances that we are looking for in energy and decarbonization related technologies,” Diana Bauer told IACMI members. Bauer is the acting deputy director of the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE. “I am delighted to have this opportunity to share some of our direction at AMO and to inspire you as IAMCI is thinking about what is next.”
Bauer shared AMO objectives for composites included advance composite design concepts and production technologies for materials and parts that improve material properties, reduce embodied energy and emissions over multiple lifecycles, and reduce cost.
Bauer explained that AMO is dedicated to improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions of the industrial sector while delivering innovations to drive manufacturing of next generation energy technologies in four critical mission areas: Industrial efficiency and decarbonization, clean energy manufacturing, material supply chains, technical assistance, and workforce development.
Domestic Manufacturing as a Matter of National Security
Adele Ratcliff, DoD’s Director of Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) Program, emphasized that as a matter of national security, America needs to reestablish itself as a global leader in manufacturing. “We need to reprioritize a strong manufacturing industrial base in this country that can respond at will for national security needs and economic prosperity, because economic security is national security,” Ratcliff said. While the United States had the strongest machine tool sector in the world after World War II, have now fallen to number five. She said, “Research proves that nations that design and manufacture products are far better at innovating. The decline in U.S. advanced manufacturing and machine tool technology and capacity has significantly impacted national and economic security. The United States must be able to conceive, design, build, and use advanced machine tools to produce many of the products that are used in modern society and that our country so vitally needs to defend our nation.”
Ratcliff explained how America’s Cutting Edge (ACE), a public-private initiative launched by DoD in partnership with DOE in 2020, is aimed at reestablishing American leadership in the machine tool industry through transformative thinking, technology innovation, and workforce development. She complimented the role that IACMI is playing in leading an ACE skills workforce training program to scale up workforce pipelines in the U.S. She added, The ACE curriculum allows people to experience machining often for the first time. By expanding those opportunities for more people to go through hands-on training, we’re hoping to inspire the next generation of manufacturers in this country.”
Sustainability in Composite Materials and Processes
“There’s a lot of pressure being put on public companies in particular to change the way they do business and to be more carbon friendly,” said Jeff Sloan, the Editor-in-Chief of CompositesWorld. “If you don’t have the ability to adapt, then you risk losing customers, market share profits, employees, and investors.”
Sloan said, “My sense is that sustainability as a strategy is more important right now in Europe than it is in the United States. I think that is going to change. We will not be able to escape this push for sustainability. It is not going away. It is something you are going to have to get used to and you are going to have to get on board because the future is in the Gen Z and Millennials, and they are making a lot of decisions for you about the kind of products they want to consume and what they are willing to do and how they want to invest their money and how they want to participate in this economy and that’s going to drive a lot of activity over the next 50 years.”
IACMI Working Groups
The five IACMI Working Groups that were held in conjunction with the three-day meeting averaged 77 attendees. The Working Group workshops focused on emerging projects, including funding opportunities and IACMI’s plans for potential DOE renewal. The five Working Groups included Infrastructure & Construction, Wind Energy, High Rate Aerostructures Fabrication, Recycling/Circular Economy and Future Mobility/Vehicles Technology.
Networking Reception at Natural History Museum of Utah
Members attended a networking reception with industry partners from a variety of market sectors at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Members had the opportunity to engage with each other while enjoying remarkable scenic mountain landscapes on outdoor terraces. When members ventured inside, they were able to explore five levels of engaging exhibits and over 5,000 artifacts on display.
Once the dates and location of IACMI’s next Members Meeting is announced, “save the date” details will be communicated.