The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in partnership with the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), today announced the selection of 10 projects for negotiation to advance smart manufacturing processes and technologies that will improve productivity, energy efficiency, and competitiveness across America's manufacturing sector. 

Smart Manufacturing describes an innovative approach to manufacturing involving digitization, automation, and artificial intelligence—which helps manufacturers optimize their use of energy and materials.    

"Smart manufacturing technologies help American manufacturers operate more efficiently," said Kelly Speakes-Backman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). "By increasing the sophistication of the manufacturing sector, these projects can help increase U.S. competitiveness on a global stage, create good-paying American jobs, and accelerate clean energy economy."  

The 10 projects were selected across three topic areas including research and development, education and workforce development, and smart manufacturing innovation.  

Click here for more information about each of the selected projects.  

CESMII has released two previous requests for proposals (RFPs) and has either funded or selected for negotiation a total of 40 projects that are helping the Institute to develop, test, and widely deploy to industry advanced sensors, controls, platforms and modeling for manufacturing, as well as to advance new manufacturing solutions with integrated operations technologies and information technologies (OT/IT). 

Founded in 2016, CESMII accelerates smart manufacturing adoption through the integration of advanced sensors, data analytics, platforms, and controls. It is the third Manufacturing USA institute funded by DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office.