In what areas do the United States exercise successful manufacturing practices and where are we in need of improvement? These resources examine opportunities and challenges for 21st century manufacturing.
Building America’s Skilled Technical Workforce
Skilled technical occupations—defined as occupations that require a high level of knowledge in a technical domain but do not require a bachelor’s degree for entry—are a key component of the U.S. economy. In response to globalization and advances in science and technology, American firms …
The Manufacturing USA initiative seeks to reinforce U.S.-based advanced manufacturing through partnerships among industry, academia, and government. Started in 2012 and established with bipartisan support by the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2014, the initiative …
Making Value for America: Embracing the Future of Manufacturing, Technology, and Work
Globalization, developments in technology, and new business models are transforming the way products and services are conceived, designed, made, and distributed in the U.S. and around the world. These forces present challenges – lower wages and fewer jobs for a growing fraction of middle-class …
Promising Practices for Strengthening the Regional STEM Workforce Development Ecosystem
U.S. strength in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines has formed the basis of innovations, technologies, and industries that have spurred the nation’s economic growth throughout the last 150 years. Universities are essential to the creation and transfer of new …
In 2005, the National Research Council report Rising Above the Gathering Storm recommended a new way for the federal government to spur technological breakthroughs in the energy sector. It recommended the creation of a new agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, or ARPA-E, …
Electricity, supplied reliably and affordably, is foundational to the U.S. economy and is utterly indispensable to modern society. However, emissions resulting from many forms of electricity generation create environmental risks that could have significant negative economic, security, and human …
Making Things: 21st Century Manufacturing and Design: Summary of a Forum
More than two decades ago, a commission of 17 MIT scientists and economists released a report, Made in America, which opened with the memorable phrase, “To live well, a nation must produce well.” Is that still true? Or can the United States remain a preeminent nation while other …
Manufacturing is in a period of dramatic transformation. But in the United States, public and political dialogue is simplistically focused almost entirely on the movement of certain manufacturing jobs overseas to low-wage countries. The true picture is much more complicated, and also more …
21st Century Manufacturing: The Role of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) – a program of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology – has sought for more than two decades to strengthen American manufacturing. It is a national network of affiliated manufacturing extension centers and …
Rising to the Challenge: U.S. Innovation Policy for the Global Economy
America’s position as the source of much of the world’s global innovation has been the foundation of its economic vitality and military power in the post-war. No longer is U.S. pre-eminence assured as a place to turn laboratory discoveries into new commercial products, companies, industries, and …
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)– a program of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)– has sought for more than two decades to strengthen American manufacturing. It is a national network of affiliated manufacturing extension centers …
Best Practices in State and Regional Innovation Initiatives: Competing in the 21st Century
Most of the policy discussion about stimulating innovation has focused on the federal level. This study focuses on the significant activity at the state level, with the goal of improving the public’s understanding of key policy strategies and exemplary practices. Based on a series of workshops …