Bellingham, WA – Leaders of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, commend new initiatives by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology to boost the capabilities of advanced manufacturing. They will be sound investments and a good use of the country's photonics R&D.
The comments followed release of a new report by the 18-member steering committee of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) that was launched by President Obama in June 2011. The Report to the President on Capturing Competitive Advantage in Advanced Manufacturing was formally adopted July 18th by the President’s council.
The report addresses needs in three broad categories:
• enabling innovation
• securing the talent pipeline
• improving the business climate.
"Photonics applications are exactly the sort of cross-cutting technologies that the report sees as 'vital to advance manufacturing'," said Robert Lieberman, chair of the SPIE committee on Engineering, Science, and Technology Policy (ESTeP). "Photolithography and machine vision are just two examples. Without photonic technology, computer chips could not be fabricated, and the robots in advanced manufacturing plants would be blind. Even the ubiquitous 'date stamps' on bottles and cans would disappear."
In addition, SPIE CEO, Eugene Arthurs cited technologies such as laser sintering, stereolithography, and electron beam melting applications in 3D printing for the rapid prototyping and manufacture of lighter-weight, higher-quality parts for airplanes and automobiles, and of better-performing and more comfortable hearing aids and joint implants. Light-emitting-diodes (LEDs) and holography provide highly reliable information for quality control, and optical systems use lasers to precisely cut, weld, and align manufacturing equipment that produces more accurate finished products.
An interagency Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO) has already been established by the administration to coordinate federal manufacturing resources and programs and to foster the creation of private-public partnerships focused on manufacturing innovation.
The new office, which is hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is acting on the AMP Steering Committee recommendation to establish a national network of manufacturing innovation institutes. In his budget for fiscal year 2013, President Obama proposed a one-time, $1 billion investment to build the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, consisting of up to 15 regional innovation institutes. Through regional workshops and other means, the AMNPO is now gathering public input on the design of the proposed network.
Access the new report and supporting documents atwww.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pcast.
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