Collaboration allows partners to leverage their unique capabilities and resources to achieve something more than the sum of their individual parts. Our nation’s competitiveness relies on our ability to work together to innovate in areas like clean energy and manufacturing to achieve common goals and spur job creation. One such common goal is the development of revolutionary new composite materials and ways to reuse and recycle them in manufacturing.

On Friday, July 1, three partners in the composites industry came together for a ceremonial signing of two Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) commemorated by Senator Maria Cantwell and other officials at the state of the art CRTC facility in Port Angeles, Washington, which broke ground in September 2015. The collaborative agreements brought together the Composite Recycling Technology Center (CRTC), the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), and Peninsula College to develop advanced methods of recycling composite materials. The agreements establishes CRTC as a strategic partner in IACMI, and allows Peninsula College to expand their curriculum to include workforce development for composites manufacturing.

Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) Director Mark Johnson noted the potential to innovate in the U.S. and coordinate with groups across the nation to unlock the potential for a cleaner, safer, and economically secure future. IACMI is one of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) institutes supported by AMO. These institutes play an important role in driving innovation within unique areas of concentration in manufacturing through strategic public-private partnerships. This new partnership will add CRTC’s expertise in composite recycling to IACMI, and serve to broaden the national impact of the Institute while expanding the capabilities of the Port Angeles facility. The agreement extends IACMI’s reach to the West Coast and brings new opportunities for manufacturers in the Pacific Northwest to utilize shared innovation infrastructure and engage with the entire advanced composites network. As part of the partnership, Peninsula College will introduce a first-of-its-kind Composite Recycling Certification, which gives students hands-on training in advanced materials recycling and remanufacturing techniques. This certification will provide the workforce necessary to expand and commercialize composites recycling techniques.

The partnership represents the potential to accelerate innovation, increase competitiveness of U.S. composites manufacturing, and ensure that the workforce can meet the needs of an evolving composites industry.

To read the full press release on the collaborative agreement, click here.