ASME Sponsored Congressional Briefing on the Manufacturing Engineering Education Grant Program Is Av

A video recording of the ASME Congressional briefing on the Department of Defense’s Manufacturing Engineering Education Grant Program held July 25, 2017, 12:00pm-1:30pm at the Capitol Visitors Center, SVC 212-10 is now available for viewing. Please visit the House Manufacturing Caucus’ YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuuW1U_7xwA, and additional information can be found on the House Manufacturing Caucus’ website at https://housemanufacturingcaucus-reed.house.gov/115th-congress-events

Background:

The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) established the “Manufacturing Engineering Education Grant Program,” thereby authorizing the Defense Department to support industry-relevant, manufacturing-focused, engineering training at U.S. institutions of higher education, universities, industry, and nonprofit institutions. Grantees are selected through a competitive process on the merits of better aligning their educational offerings with the needs of modern U.S. manufacturers.

This new program has great potential to strengthen national security and increase economic competitiveness by improving and modernizing the U.S. industrial base. Through this program, students, technologists, and manufactures will be better equipped to manufacture U.S. military equipment and technology domestically, protecting and securing the future of the American Warfighter. The Manufacturing Engineering Education Grant Program will not only strengthen the U.S. military’s capabilities, but will also allow the U.S. to compete against other nations economically as well.

In the area of advanced manufacturing, the U.S. is currently competing commercially against a range of European and Asian nations for global innovation advantage in areas of advanced manufacturing. Countries such as Germany and Austria, who dedicate a larger percentage of their economy to manufacturing (23% and 19% respectively) than the United States (12%) are pursuing several workforce development initiatives that call for revamping engineering curriculum and workforce training opportunities to better align manufacturing and engineering education more closely with the current and future needs of industry.

Welcome:

Said Jahanmir, ASME President-nominee

Moderator:

Tom Kurfess, ASME Manufacturing Public Policy Task Force. Co-Chair; Professor and HUSCO/Ramirez Distinguished Chair in Fluid Power and Motion Control, Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech; Former Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing at the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America

Panelists:

• Brennan Grignon, Program Director, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing and Industrial Base Policy, Department of Defense (DOD)
• Stephen Ezell, Vice President, Global Innovation Policy, ITIF (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation)
• Laurie Leshin, President, WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
• Laine Mears, Professor & BMW SmartState Chair of Automotive Manufacturing Clemson University
• Denise Peppard, Corporate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Northrop Grumman Corporation