The Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute has opened in a bid to bridge the gap between the knowledge the university generates and the factories where practices and products go from theory to reality.
The new institute is a reincarnation of the university’s Manufacturing Research Center, which had been part of its innovation infrastructure for the past 20 years. The change is a recognition that the university must focus more on commercialization while maintaining its research edge.
“Manufacturing is important to the development of a variety of products, from medical devices to alternative energy solutions to cars, on the large and nano scale,” said Ben Wang, Georgia Tech’s chief manufacturing officer and executive director of the institute. He added that it would specialize in crossing the “valley of death,” the no man’s land where ideas fizzle for lack of funding or focus.
The institute has 400,000 square feet of space, where it will form “collaboratories” where scientists and researchers can work with companies, government groups or other universities to address specific manufacturing needs.
In October, Georgia Tech hosted the second annual Next Generation Manufacturing conference, where a variety of manufacturers from across the state came together to share best practices and research.
Read more: Manufacturing Jobs: Goodbye Asia, Hello Georgia?
To learn more about the institute, which consolidates Tech’s advantages in additive manufacturing, factory information systems, supply chain and logistics, policy, precision machining and other disciplines, visit http://www.manufacturing.gatech.edu.
GSU-CIBER is the presenting sponsor of Global Atlanta's Education Channel. Subscribe here for monthly Education newsletters.
