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Manufacturing Innovation and Economic Growth at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
NIST Chief Manufacturing Officer Michael Molnar
To Deliver Keynote Address at Center for Automation
Technologies and Systems (CATS) 2012 Technology Showcase and
Conference
Over the Past Five Years, CATS Has Helped Its
Partner Companies Deliver $259 Million Non-Job Economic Impact,
Helped Create 293 New Jobs, and Retain 449 Jobs in New York
State
Michael Molnar, chief manufacturing officer of the U.S.
Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) and director of the Advanced Manufacturing
National Program Office (AMNPO), will deliver the keynote
address at the Rensselaer Center for Automation
Technologies and Systems (CATS) 2012 Technology Showcase
and Conference.
The event, titled “Partnership for Manufacturing
Competitiveness,” will take place April 23-24 at the Hilton
Garden Inn in Troy, N.Y. The showcase will highlight the many
successes of CATS and its partner companies and state agencies.
To register or see the full schedule, visit: http://www.regonline.com/2012_CATS_Showcase
Since 1988, CATS has worked with partner companies to
leverage the knowledge and expertise of Rensselaer faculty and
students toward solving real-world advanced manufacturing
challenges. CATS is a New York state designated Center for
Advanced Technology and receives annual funding of nearly $1
million from the Empire State Development (ESD)
Division for Science,
Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR). Over the past five
years, CATS has leveraged this investment to help its
industrial partners deliver upward of $259 million in non-job
economic impact, create 293 new jobs, and retain 449 jobs in
New York. More than 80 percent of CATS industrial partners are
small or start-up companies.
“At Rensselaer, we are resolutely focused on helping to
revitalize the U.S. manufacturing economy, which is a critical
facet of the national innovation ecosystem. Through the work of
CATS and others on campus, we have an important direct impact
on the economic growth of the Capital Region, New York, and our
country,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann
Jackson. “In addition, these efforts empower and inspire
our students to develop new technologies and launch businesses
that seed and generate further job creation. Rensselaer is
deeply committed to continuing its leadership role in achieving
these goals.”
“Under the leadership of Governor Cuomo, New York state
continues to leverage its unique assets, such as its premier
research and development institutions, to achieve its economic
development goals and remain competitive,” said ESD President,
CEO, and Commissioner Kenneth
Adams. “ESD is proud to support the Center for Advanced
Technology program, which builds on the bright minds and
talents of our students to realize the innovative products of
our future. As a result, the program has helped create and
retain hundreds of jobs and bolster economic growth in the
Capital Region and across the state.”
CATS is focused on the future of all aspects of
manufacturing, from both a theoretical and practical
perspective. Of particular emphasis is the manufacturing of
energy-related systems, including fuel cell, battery, and other
areas of green manufacturing such as energy-saving advanced
composite parts and structures. Through partnership with
leading fuel cell companies, the center is innovating new
methods for manufacturing fuel cell membranes, automating
membrane electrode assemblies, and advancing the robotic
assembly of fuel cell stacks.
In addition to manufacturing, the center applies an
integrated systems approach to a wide array of applications,
including thermal management, active flow control, adaptive
optics, high-precision motion control, micro- and nanoscale
engineering, and biomedical applications such as biomechanics,
bioimaging, and high-throughput assay for drug discovery.
“We take a holistic approach to problem solving, integrating
modeling, simulation, and prototyping, which augments the
domain expertise of our industrial partners and helps them be
more competitive on the global stage,” said John T. Wen,
CATS director and a professor in the Department of Electrical,
Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer.
“Industrial collaboration is also essential to our research and
education programs, as it provides real-world, market-driven
motivation, inspiration, and pathways to
commercialization.”
CATS’ interdisciplinary team of researchers includes nearly
50 Rensselaer faculty members from nine different academic
departments in the School of Engineering, School of Science,
and School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. More than
40 Rensselaer students participate in CATS research, and the
center employs seven full-time research technical staff and two
postdoctoral researchers.
On April 25, the day after the CATS showcase, the AMNPO will
hold the first of a planned series of regional workshops to
design a proposed $1 billion federal initiative, the National
Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). This workshop will
be held on the Rensselaer campus in the Curtis R. Priem
Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center. For more
information on the workshop, visit: http://manufacturing.gov/amp/event_042512.html
and
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/tech-beat/tb20120403.cfm#nnmi
For more information on the CATS at Rensselaer, visit:
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Published
April 16,
2012 |
Contact: Michael Mullaney
Phone: (518) 276-6161
E-mail: mullam@rpi.edu |
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