The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation is a public-private consortium of 122 leading U.S. manufacturers, universities, and non-profits that will focus on advanced composites—materials that are three times as strong and twice as light as the lightest metals. These advanced materials have the potential to transform products ranging from wind turbines to automobiles. This new Innovation Institute, headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee and led by the University of Tennessee, will receive $70 million in federal funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Manufacturing Office.
The Institute is the fifth in the network of innovation hubs created under the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The Institute will focus on lowering the cost of advanced fiber-reinforced polymer composite materials by 50 percent, reducing the energy used to make composites by 75 percent, and increasing the recyclability of composites to over 95 percent within the next decade.
A list of key partners and map of their locations across the United States
Read the White House blog post about the new Innovation Institute