The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites interested parties to comment on NIST's planning for a Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO), anticipated in fiscal year 2014 (FY14), subject to the availability of appropriated funding. The anticipated 2014 FFO will competitively fund a select number of new Manufacturing Technology Acceleration Centers (M-TACs). The M-TACs will focus on addressing the technical and business challenges encountered by small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers as they attempt to integrate, adopt, transition, and commercialize both existing and emerging product and process technologies into their operations to help them grow and compete within manufacturing supply chains as innovative, value-adding components of our nation's economy. U.S. small and mid-sized manufacturers are a critical segment of our economy, comprising over 90% of all manufacturing establishments and approximately 45% of employment.1 U.S. small and mid-sized manufacturers are also playing a growing role in technology innovation, including product and process technologies.2 The emphasis of these future M-TACs will be to conduct technology transition and commercialization activities with small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers to foster their readiness to adopt and/or adapt advanced technologies into their manufacturing processes and products.
To read the original article: Federal Register | Request for Information on Pilots to Inform the Creation of Potential New Manufacturing Technology Acceleration Centers (M-TACs)
