Alcoa, a global leader in lightweight metals engineering and manufacturing, is a founding member of the country’s first manufacturing institute focused solely on light metals: the National Lightweight and Modern Metals Innovation Institute in Detroit, Michigan. The institute was formally unveiled by President Obama during an event in Washington today.
“Lightweight metals are a growing and critical segment of the national manufacturing base. We’ve seen this most recently through the increased use of aluminum in the automotive industry to produce energy efficient vehicles,” said Alcoa Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld. “As one of the country’s most established leaders in lightweight metals, Alcoa is committed to sharing our expertise to ensure the competitiveness of U.S. industry.”
The goal of the institute is to expand the market for products using new, lightweight, high-performing metals and alloys by removing technological manufacturing barriers. Alcoa’s experts at the Alcoa Technical Center (ATC) – the world’s largest light metals R&D center, located outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – will work closely with this new institute and focus on developing technologies impacting the future of key industries, including automotive, aerospace, defense, consumer products, and maritime sectors.
“Public-private partnerships are essential to advancing the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing,” said Dr. Raymond Kilmer, Alcoa’s Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. “Bringing new innovations to market faster – while creating meaningful jobs in advanced manufacturing – is vitally important and Alcoa is proud to have the opportunity to participate in this new institute.”
Alcoa will serve on the board of the new institute and is one of 60 founding members, including the University of Michigan, Boeing, General Electric, Honda North America and Lockheed Martin.
Source: http://www.alcoa.com/