More Details Coming on Manufacturing Hub

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President Barack Obama is expected to announce additional details Tuesday about a $320 million digital manufacturing institute in Illinois with a strong Indiana connection. Indianapolis-based Project Lead The Way Inc. is among the partners for the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute. Chief Executive Officer Vince Bertram says the manufacturing hub will allow some of the top minds in industry and academia to develop innovations that could lead to new business for Indiana companies. Academic partners in Indiana include Indiana University, Purdue University and the University of Notre Dame.

Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Joe Donnelly applauded the announcement that the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded $70 million toward the creation of the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation (DMDI) Institute in a public-private partnership to boost American manufacturing.

Donnelly previously advocated for the proposal of the digital lab, which will bring together universities, industries, and other organizations throughout the Midwest to develop innovative solutions, with an emphasis on defense manufacturing. The effort, led by UI Labs in Chicago, Illinois, includes a public-private partnership with participation from Purdue University, Indiana University, and the University of Notre Dame.

“This is a win for Indiana because the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute will create new opportunities for manufacturers and help create high-wage, middle and high-skilled jobs for our workers,” said Donnelly. “This cutting edge, state-of-the-art digital lab will build on the Midwest’s reputation as an international manufacturing leader and draw on the support of Indiana-based universities, while at the same time transforming both defense and civilian industries.”

The DMDI Institute will be funded with both public and private funds. It will provide the proving ground to link promising information technologies, tools, standards, models, sensors, controls, practices, and skills; and then transition these capabilities to the industrial base for full-scale application.

The DMDI Institute proposal was part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation Initiative, which aims to launch three manufacturing institutes aligned with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy. Donnelly and all nine members of the Indiana House delegation sent a letter to U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in support of the digital lab’s creation in August 2013 and then sent another letter in November 2013 backing the final proposal.

Source: Office of U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly