Vision with Action: A Report from the NCMS DM SIG meeting
At the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) the Digital Manufacturing Strategic Interest Group (DM SIG) is the collaborative vehicle to bring action to the Digital Manufacturing vision. Over the past year, the DM SIG continues to move forward discussing and implementing the strategies at the intersection of exploration and innovation within digital manufacturing.
Since its creation just over a year ago the DM SIG continues to grow. Today, the DM SIG is comprised of representatives from 25 organizations including non-profits, universities, federal agencies, technology providers, and manufacturers of all sizes. Together we are focused on the singular topic of bringing modeling and simulation capabilities to our nation’s small and medium sized manufacturers.
Our most recent DM SIG meeting (May 9-10, 2012) was hosted by the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technologies (CCAT) as part of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers’ (SME) Mfg4 event at the beautiful Connecticut Convention Center in downtown Hartford, CT, which offered spectacular facilities and food for our time together.
The robust agenda for this event included time to network, collaborate, engage and drive the shared vision. The DM SIG has been a vital component supporting NCMS’ ability to move the NCMS Predictive Innovation Center (PIC) strategy forward.
The meeting was initiated with some foundation presentations outlining a wide variety of national and regional opportunities with which NCMS is actively involved. A comprehensive update regarding the upcoming Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) pilots, the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) and a variety of 2012 state initiatives was given by NCMS Senior Vice President Rebecca Taylor. In addition, Benjamin Grover made a return appearance to the DM SIG to update the group regarding the ongoing efforts and opportunities at the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR).
For the remainder of the meeting, the SIG began documenting and planning the collaborative efforts needed to ensure a continued successful trajectory. In the end working teams were established to initially focus on the tactical efforts associated with Marketing & Outreach, Training & Education, and Small & Medium Sized Manufacturer (SMM) Engagement activities. All of these efforts will be coordinated to align with the appropriate state, regional and/or national opportunities. You can find the compete agenda for this meeting HERE.
Finally, we are definitely not struggling to find future host organizations; GE, Clemson University, R Systems, Dell and Autodesk have all expressed interest in hosting future DM SIG meetings. We are working with them to finalize dates and locations. As soon as those are determined they will be communicated at www.ncms.org.
Interesting in joining?
The next SIG meeting is scheduled to take place in the Detroit area on August 29, 2012 and will be hosted by General Electric at their Advanced Manufacturing & Software Technology Center (AMSTC). If you would like more information about joining the DM SIG please contact me.
Jon Riley
[email protected]
