The University of Louisville will receive a total of $2 million in grant funding over the next five years to help minority-owned manufacturing businesses adopt additive manufacturing and 3D printing technology.
The grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), will launch the Kentucky MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center, one of only four such programs nationwide, according to a news release from the university.
“There’s huge economic potential in additive manufacturing,” Sundar Atre, endowed chair of manufacturing and materials at UofL and a lead on the new grant, said in the release. “I see the pathway to a multibillion-dollar economy built around this in Louisville — it’s not unrealistic. With this new program, we will work to make that ecosystem open to everyone.”
The Kentucky MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center will build on UofL’s existing Additive Manufacturing Institute of Science & Technology (AMIST) within the J.B. Speed School of Engineering. AMIST will reportedly use its faculty, staff and 10,000 square feet of dedicated facilities to provide minority-owned manufacturing businesses with product design, technology support and a talent pipeline in additive manufacturing.
The center also will provide technical and business development assistance to build capacity of minority-owned companies, expand manufacturing ecosystems and facilitate contracts and financing.
Companies can learn more and get involved by visiting the Kentucky MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center's webpage here.
