This is the year, apparently, that the United States government will fully embrace 3D printing. The America Makes Institute has been established and the White House will host its own Maker Faire this year. We also reported recently on 3DPI.com that members of Congress have established a Makers Caucus. As if interest in 3D printing technology by those in DC wasn’t already enough, a new digital manufacturing lab will be established in Chicago.
President Barack Obama made the announcement on February 25 that the Department of Defense has awarded $70 million to Chicago-based UI Labs to create the D3digital Lab for Manufacturing. $250 million more will be contributed by industry, academia, government and community partners, giving the institution a total of $320 million to get it up and running.
The Digital Lab is not too dissimilar from the America Makes institute, except that it will receive significantly more funding from the federal government. Some of the listed partners overlap with those of America Makes and, when they don’t, they still share similar spaces in industry. To name a few, they include: Rolls Royce, Dow Chemical, General Electric, Microsoft, Boeing, Autodesk and 3D Systems. The Digital Lab is introducing an interesting new concept called the Digital Manufacturing Commons (DMC), an open source online software platform “for real-time design and manufacturing collaboration” that “allows users to share data during the design-make process and across the product life cycle,” according to Digital Lab’s.
In addition to the digital manufacturing institute, President Obama also announced the formation of a facility devoted to the development of new lightweight and modern metals.
Along with America Makes and the other Innovation Hubs being established in the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, it looks like the United States is attempting to compete against the rest of the world at high tech manufacturing.
