Ohio State joins consortium charged with reshaping U.S. manufacturing industry

The Ohio State University is joining forces with more than 100 members of a nationwide coalition focused on reducing costly waste materials and emissions from manufacturing, thus creating clean-energy businesses—steps deemed critical in keeping U.S. manufacturing industries competitive.

In early January, the U.S. Department of Energy selected Rochester Institute of Technology to lead the coalition through an industry-driven applied research institute known as REMADE (Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Reducing Embodied-energy and Decreasing Emissions in Materials Manufacturing).

The goal of the REMADE Institute is to reduce the cost of technology essential to reusing, recycling and remanufacturing materials such as metals, fibers, polymers and electronic waste, and to improve overall energy efficiency 50 percent by 2027, saving billions in energy costs. U.S. manufacturing accounts for nearly a third of the nation’s annual total energy use, with much of that energy embodied in the physical products made in manufacturing.

The institute is supported by $70 million from the Department of Energy and $70 million in private cost-share commitments, including $2 million from Ohio State.

The university’s contribution was shared by four colleges: Engineering; Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences; Public Health; and Business, and two Discovery Themes programs: Sustainable and Resilient Economy (SRE), and Materials and Manufacturing for Sustainability (M&MS). Their shares were based on expected participation in consortium projects.

“This success highlights the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, taking advantage of the vast intellectual resources at Ohio State,” said David B. Williams, dean of the College of Engineering and Monte Ahuja Endowed Dean’s Chair.

Joseph Fiksel, SRE executive director and a research faculty member in Integrated Systems Engineering, will oversee Ohio State’s role in the REMADE consortium. Alan Luo, professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Integrated Systems Engineering, will serve as the institute’s deputy node leader within the Manufacturing Material Optimization section, a role in which he will help define the research scope and select projects.

The REMADE consortium comprises 26 universities, 44 companies, seven National Labs, 26 industry trade associations and foundations, and three states—New York, Colorado and Utah.

REMADE partners have these five-year goals:

• 5 to 10 percent improvement in manufacturing material efficiency by reducing manufacturing material waste
• 50 percent increase in remanufacturing applications
• 30 percent increase in efficiency of remanufacturing operations
• 30 percent increase in recycling efficiencies
• 50 percent increase in sales for the U.S. manufacturing industry to $21.5 billion and the creation of a next-generation recycling and manufacturing workforce

REMADE is the fifth Energy Department-led institute in a multiagency network known as Manufacturing USA, also known as the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). Since it was established four years ago, Manufacturing USA has grown to a network of 13 institutes, which have attracted more than 1,300 companies, universities and nonprofits as members.

In addition to REMADE, Ohio State is a member in four other NNMI public-private partnerships aimed at boosting advanced manufacturing, fostering American innovation, and creating the foundation needed for American manufacturing growth and competitiveness in the composites industry:

• Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), led by the University of Tennessee
• Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT), a joint venture with Michigan and Edison Welding Institute, based in Detroit
• Power America, led by North Carolina State University

written by Tom Rinderle