The University of Louisville will be part of a $320 million public-private digital lab initiative aimed at boosting innovation in manufacturing that President Barack Obama is slated to announce Tuesday.
Based in Chicago, with another lab near Detroit, the effort includes a consortium of government, businesses and universities. The University of Louisville will function as a remote manufacturing research site for the Chicago lab, university officials said.
It’s meant to act as the nation’s flagship institute for research in digital manufacturing, using computers and data to improve high-tech manufacturing machines and factories.
The Detroit institute will have a different focus — pushing innovations in the use of lightweight and modern metals — and will use the University of Kentucky as one of its university partners, said Neville Pinto, dean of the U of L’s Speed School of Engineering.
The universities competed for a role in the applied research lab, where they will be required to share costs as part of the consortium, he said. While declining to say how much until Tuesday’s White House announcement, he said the U of L would contribute a “significant amount.”
But, he said, it would be a good investment. Supporters of the lab predict it will help create jobs.
“This will be a magnet for companies who require assistance in this area, for research funding and for students who want to work in this area,” he said. “It’s going to be good for our community and our state. It’ll make a huge difference in our ability to impact our economy.”
For the effort, the Pentagon is contributing $140 million to split between the two sites, with the remainder being contributed by states, corporations and universities, according to The Associated Press.
President Obama touted the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute last month in his State of the Union address. More details are expected to be released Tuesday.
Glen Prater, a U of L faculty in mechanical engineering who helped coordinate the proposal, said efforts in Louisville will be focused in an applied science and engineering park being created south of the Belknap campus near Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
“It’s impossible to overstate how important manufacturing is to Kentucky’s economy,” he said. “These are good, high-paying jobs. Anything we do to support Kentucky manufacturers is going to enhance the economy.”
For a full list of partners, including the the Commonwealth of Kentucky, click here.