Over 125 representatives from industry, government, and academia convened on the Georgia Tech campus June 5, 2012 to hold an interactive workshop on “From Transit Hubs to Combat Zones: Serving the Government Customer with Lightweight Materials.”  The workshop was hosted by the Manufacturing Research Center (MaRC).

Workshop attendees discussed the development of a sustainable domestic industrial base for lightweight, energy-efficient systems, bringing together acquisition and sustainment leaders with common interests in supply chain analysis and advancing the availability of domestic sources for lightweight material solutions for government systems.

Also participating in the workshop were senior leadership and staff representing the federal interagency Defense Production Act Committee (DPAC).  The agency is a Congressionally-established body comprised of 17 department and agency heads who advise the President of the United States on ensuring that the U.S. industrial base can meet essential government needs.

Guest speakers included The Honorable Sharon E. Burke, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs; Mr. Neal Orringer, Director of Manufacturing, Manufacturing Industrial Base Policy, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense; Dr. Brent Segal, Chief Scientist, Nanotechnology, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center; and Dr. William Provine, Director of External Affairs for Science & Technology, DuPont. Georgia Tech leaders welcoming workshop participants included President Dr. G.P. “Bud” Peterson and Executive Vice President for Research Dr. Stephen E. Cross.

“Advanced lightweight materials technologies have applications to current systems, such as automotive and aircraft light-weighting, while also acting as an enabler for innovative platforms, such as alternative energy sources,” noted Georgia Tech Chief Manufacturing Officer & MaRC Executive Director Dr. Ben Wang.

“However, some of the resources for stronger, lighter, and more energy efficient materials originate outside of the U.S.  The long-term robustness of those resources currently produced in the U.S. has not been systematically examined across the entire spectrum of the Federal programs. Should any of these suppliers fail to deliver key goods, the U.S. becomes strategically vulnerable,” Wang explained.

“We believe that a collaborative, interagency strategy for the domestic implementation and production of advanced, cost effective, lightweight materials can cut away this dependence on our-of-country resources by shifting future technological and financial growth back under the U.S.’s control,” Wang said.

Workshop attendees brain-stormed during sessions throughout the day on topics, including:

The current limitations of conventional materials and the need for lightweight systems;
Defining supply chain requirements for meeting lightweight, high-performance, energy-efficient targets within Federal programs;
Identifying underdeveloped industrial bases and examining why gaps/deficiencies exist; and
Advising DPAC on a way forward for the development of domestic capabilities.