{"243891":{"#nid":"243891","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Disruptive technologies, manufacturing ecosystems highlight Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute Industry Parnters Symposium","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECollaboration, manufacturing ecosystems, industrial commons \u2013 those terms of cooperative research and manufacturing competitiveness were the primary themes of the first annual Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute Industry Partners Symposium. Held on Oct. 1, the event drew nearly 100 industry and government partners to discuss the challenges currently facing the U.S. manufacturing sector.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Ben Wang, Executive Director of GTMI and Georgia Tech\u2019s Chief Manufacturing Officer, pointed to two grand challenges facing manufacturing today:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHow do we accelerate innovation and create and deliver new customer values?\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHow do we promote the idea of \u201cdiscover here, build here?\u201d\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo address these challenges, he recommended that we re-establish the Bell Labs model. Bell Labs developed a number of technologies that continue to impact our lives today. This model was so successful, because: \u201cThey provided constant and continuous interactions; they were guided by leaders and visionaries; they fully coupled technology push with market pull; they had \u2018patient capital\u2019 for basic research that didn\u2019t seem relevant; and finally, they had a different regulatory environment than what exists today,\u201d explained Dr. Wang. \u201cIt was a microcosm of an innovation ecosystem.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnfortunately, the Bell Labs model began to disintegrate in the United States when research was outsourced to the universities and production to low-cost markets. But this microcosm of innovation that existed in the Bell Labs needs to return on a national basis in order for the U.S. to regain its global leadership in the manufacturing arena.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe sentiment was echoed by various speakers and panels throughout the day. Nancey Green Leigh, Associate Dean for Research, Georgia Tech College of Architecture, said that \u201cAs manufacturing was outsourced, the U.S. experienced a loss of industrial commons, or a lost capacity for future and ongoing innovation.\u201d But today, she noted, the United States is putting more emphasis on building the manufacturing sector here. \u201cIn Obama\u2019s first term, the focus was to double exports,\u201d she said. \u201cIn the second term, the White House is developing a multi-prong strategy to strengthen manufacturing by considering reform of the U.S. business code, establishing a network of manufacturing innovation institutes, and bringing jobs back.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMichael Groesch, Vice President of Sales and Operations and Product Life Cycle at NCR, a participant on the additive manufacturing panel discussion, said that this is imperative to advancing new disruptive technologies such as 3D printing. \u201cCollaborating in a pre-competitive arena and developing those commons [in these technologies] will help us maintain that leading edge,\u201d he explained.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to building ecosystems, innovation acceleration will require the United States to put more emphasis on the entire innovation chain. Currently, Dr. Wang noted, there is a lot of federal money funding research at the university level on the knowledge discovery side of the equation.\u0026nbsp; Industry, on the other side of the equation, invests billions of dollars in developing new product. The problem for the United States is that middle ground of moving those concepts developed in the lab to the market place, or what Dr. Wang calls the \u201cvalley of death\u201d in terms of technology maturation. \u201cToday the full cycle of technology maturation takes about 20 years,\u201d said Dr. Wang. \u201cThis is unacceptable. The process takes too long, it is too expensive, and the results are too random.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOver the past few decades, the United States has ignored manufacturing and that has resulted in trade deficits, lost jobs, national debts and a loss of competitiveness for the United States. But there is hope, according to Dr. Wang. Using what he terms as the manufacturing renaissance model, the United States could see a surplus in manufactured good exports in 10-15 years. \u201cWe have a lot to do to move from research to production,\u201d he explained. \u201cWe must have a new collaborative model. We must learn how to work together, and all the members must have a mutual trust.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe day\u2019s event included presentations and panel discussion on disruptive technologies such as lightweight composites and 3D printing, as well as manufacturing\u2019s role in economic development.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EContinuing on the concept that the U.S. innovation process takes too long, Dr. Satish Kumar, Professor with the Georgia Tech School of Materials Science and Engineering, explained the time it took to reach the current state of the art in composite materials. \u201cPolypropylene was discovered in 1933,\u201d Dr. Kumar said. \u201cBut it took 30 years to realize that it could be crystalized to produce better mechanical properties, and it took 50 years for polypropylene to be commercialized.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Dr. Kumar, the research trends in lightweight carbon fiber composites today include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003Elow-density honeycomb structure composites,\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Ehigh strength and high modulus composites,\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Ealternative precursor materials,\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Ealternative processing methods, and\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Estructural and functional fibers.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe second disruptive technology discussion of the day focused on additive manufacturing. A topic so hot that Dr. Wang joked, \u201cWe have two or three resident experts here at Georgia Tech on additive manufacturing, but they are all traveling to talk about additive manufacturing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Wang identified four key areas for 3D printing application including aerospace, automotive, biomedical, repair and maintenance. This is especially useful for the military in terms of repair parts and reducing the inventory of parts required to be on hand for tours of duty.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERepair and maintenance was reiterated by the panel as well. Eric Amis, Director of Physical Sciences at the United Technologies Research Center, said, \u201cRepair is one of the first places that we are using this for small parts production. There is a real opportunity where we can see the reduction of part counts.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut no matter how promising, there are always challenges to be faced by new technologies. Some of the challenges noted by the panel include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003Edifficulty in certifying parts\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Esurface finishes are not up to par and require post machining\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Ecostly and timely post processing can take away the benefit of additive manufacturing\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003Ereproducibility\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe panel added, however, that these challenges provide great opportunities for collaborative, university-based research. The main areas of focus, Dr. Chuck Zhang noted, are new materials, new processes and machines, and certification.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELooking at the big picture of manufacturing, the third panel of the GTMI Symposium focused on manufacturing\u2019s role in economic development and, as moderator Bob Pertierra, Vice President of Supply Chain and Advanced Manufacturing, Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, noted, \u201ceconomic development\u2019s role in manufacturing.\u201d For, as this panel showed, it is a two-way street. Strong examples were provided for Newark, NJ, and Gwinnett County, GA, which are both making changes to their policies and strategies to both attract and grow manufacturing clusters within their regions. Again, the panel emphasized the idea that policy, whether local or national, needs to be part of the mix when building the manufacturing sector and the ecosystem needed to support it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFrom an economic standpoint,\u201d said Green Leigh, \u201cwe have to remake our \u2018Maker Economy.\u2019 Today $11,500 per capita is spent in the U.S. toward imported goods. We simply can\u2019t afford that if we are to help our economy. And although a 100 percent \u2018Made in America\u2019 plan doesn\u2019t work in an advanced economy, we seriously need to rebalance where we are at this time.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Manufacturing Institute\u0027s first Industry Partner Symposium draws nearly 100 guests.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute\u0027s first Industry Partner Symposium draws nearly 100 guests."}],"uid":"27857","created_gmt":"2013-10-09 16:32:05","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:05","author":"Tracy Heath","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-10-09T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"244161":{"id":"244161","type":"image","title":"Dr. Ben Wang addresses Manufacturing Industry Partners at First Symposium","body":null,"created":"1449243722","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:42:02","changed":"1475894919","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:48:39","alt":"Dr. Ben Wang addresses Manufacturing Industry Partners at First Symposium","file":{"fid":"197868","name":"p1020307.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/p1020307_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/p1020307_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":5141981,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/p1020307_0.jpg?itok=Vfw4phmM"}}},"media_ids":["244161"],"groups":[{"id":"155831","name":"Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute (GTMI)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"12693","name":"Industry Partners"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"167061","name":"symposium"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETina Guldberg\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-385-4950\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["tina.guldberg@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}