Proposed NIST FY14 budget prioritizes advanced manufacturing

Washington, DC--With a focus on advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity initiatives, the President has proposed a budget of $928.3 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an increase of $177.5 million from FY 2012 enacted levels. The proposed NIST budget includes $127 million in new research funding, $25 million for new regional advanced manufacturing centers to help small and mid-sized manufacturers adopt innovative technologies more quickly, and $21.4 million for new public-private consortia to prioritize research needs.

Two funding requests that support advanced manufacturing stand out:

- Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) for $153.1 million. MEP has 1,300 technical experts who work directly with their local manufacturing communities. This request includes $25 million for new MEP Manufacturing Technology Acceleration Centers (M-TACs), which will provide technology acceleration support to small and mid-sized US manufacturers.

- Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech) for $21.4 million. This program will provide grants to leverage existing consortia or establish new industry-led consortia to develop roadmaps of critical long-term industrial research needs; it will also fund related research at universities and government laboratories. This program would be based on the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative (NRI) partnership.

As part of the Administration's efforts to revitalize American manufacturing, the President's budget proposes a one-time $1 billion investment to launch the National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI), a network of up to 15 manufacturing innovation institutes to serve as regional hubs of manufacturing excellence. The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) is the pilot institute in this program.