The Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII) announced more than $6 million in funding for eight projects to improve energy-intensive manufacturing processes and strengthen the U.S. manufacturing sector.

ITAMCO, West Virginia University, and the University of Buffalo will develop hybrid modeling for energy efficient grinding processes for gear manufacturing.

Read the entire press release below:

Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII) announced more than $6 million for eight projects to improve energy-intensive manufacturing processes and strengthen the U.S. manufacturing sector.

CESMII is a part of Manufacturing USA, a network of regional institutes that have a specialized technology focus to increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and promote a robust and sustainable national manufacturing research and development (R&D) infrastructure. CESMII works with American companies to spur innovations in new, integrated, systematic “smart” manufacturing processes with a highly skilled manufacturing workforce and a vibrant supply chain.

The Trump Administration has identified advanced manufacturing as one of the vital industries of the future. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Oct. 2018 “Strategy for American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing” calls for new smart manufacturing technologies to “facilitate a digital transformation in the manufacturing sector by enabling the application of big data analytics and advanced sensing and control technologies to a host of manufacturing activities.”

“Advances in digital technologies and other forms of ‘smart manufacturing’ can improve the efficiency and competitiveness of America’s manufacturing sector,” said Alex Fitzsimmons, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency. “In partnership with industry, universities, and the National Laboratories, DOE’s investments will help position the U.S. for global leadership in the advanced manufacturing industries of the future.”

The following projects are selected for negotiations:

  • Auburn University and Rayonier Advanced Materials will develop a soft sensor and predictive control for anti-foaming agent usage, wash water flow, and pulp quality in paper manufacturing using statistics pattern analysis and machine learning.
  • Baxter Solutions and Purdue University will develop real-time, non-invasive, process monitoring system for pharmaceutical lyophilization (also known as freeze-drying) equipment based on a wireless network of vacuum and temperature sensors.
  • Honeywell, Virginia Tech, Bodycote, and Seco-Warwick will develop new sensors, monitoring and data analytic methods and apply them to three industrially relevant thermal processes.
  • Pennsylvania State University, Texas A&M University (TAMU), and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) will develop novel self-powered sensors and identify actuators needed to collect information and respond to actions for machines including legacy machines for key applications.
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and IBM will develop a modeling engine with sophisticated predictive capabilities to model a variety of manufacturing processes and demonstrate the capabilities on a critical complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor transistor manufacturing process.
  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals will develop advanced process models, sensors and data integration architecture that will be demonstrated on wet granulation, drying and milling in pharmaceutical manufacturing processes.
  • UTRC, Purdue University, and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology Inc. will develop a simulation and testing framework to determine the feasibility of using ultrasound to mitigate dirty white spot defects in forged IN 718 turbine parts in the Vacuum Arc Remelting process.
  • West Virginia University, University of Buffalo, and Indiana Technology and Manufacturing Companies (ITAMCO) will develop and test hybrid modeling for energy efficient grinding processes for gear manufacturing in collaboration with the industrial partners.

Founded in 2016, in partnership with DOE’s CESMII is the third institute funded by EERE’s . CESMII accelerates smart manufacturing adoption through the integration of advanced sensors, data analytics, platforms and controls to improve productivity, precision, performance, and energy consumption in manufacturing.

To create and sustain American leadership in advanced manufacturing, DOE is investing in new industrial technologies, materials, and processes to help bolster American manufacturing. Last month, EERE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office announced $187 million in new investments for high-impact manufacturing technologies, materials, and processes to strengthen the domestic manufacturing base.