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Dr. M. Katherine Banks and Rob Gorham
Dr. M. Katherine Banks and Rob Gorham announced that the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station is partnering with America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, to establish an America Makes satellite center on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station. | Image: Texas A&M Engineering

The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) is partnering with America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, to establish an America Makes satellite center on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between America Makes, which is managed by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), and TEES was announced Friday during a signing event held at the Zachry Engineering Education Complex.

This latest partnership with America Makes positions TEES to become a national leader in advanced manufacturing.

“Texas A&M has one of the largest concentrations of core manufacturing subject matter experts in the country, which makes it the perfect location for American Makes’ newest satellite center,” said Dr. M. Katherine Banks, Texas A&M Engineering vice chancellor and dean. “As a platinum-level member of America Makes, we have built a strong partnership with the institute and will be able to leverage our relationships with industry and academe to accelerate new developments in additive manufacturing technologies.”

The center will initially be located in Texas A&M’s Emerging Technologies Building, but will later be expanded to The Texas A&M University System RELLIS Campus.

With the America Makes satellite center, TEES and America Makes plan to:

  • Leverage networks to co-develop new business and opportunities in mutual areas of interest;
  • Serve as implementation partners for existing and future programs at both entities;
  • Expand each brand into both networks;
  • Focus on the transition of additive technology from the research lab to commercialization; and
  • Develop students at all levels, including nontraditional students, K-12 and veterans through additive-related curricula.

“On behalf of all of us at America Makes, we are pleased to announce the selection of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station as the site of our second America Makes satellite center,” said America Makes Executive Director Rob Gorham. “For more than 100 years, TEES has performed groundbreaking engineering research and developed technology to address state and national problems. With our second America Makes satellite center to also be located in Texas, housed on the Texas A&M campus, we have strategically expanded our reach of accelerating the adoption of additive manufacturing technologies to encompass all of the Southwest and Southeast United States. We look forward to getting the America Makes satellite center at TEES up and running soon.”

Managed by NCDMM, America Makes is the national accelerator for additive manufacturing and the first institute within the Manufacturing USA network. As a public-private partnership, America Makes currently has a membership community comprised of more than 220 member organizations, bringing together the nation’s brilliant technical minds from all corners of government, industry and academia to create a hub of advanced manufacturing innovation in additive manufacturing. America Makes founded its first satellite center in 2015 at the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso.

In addition to its partnership with America Makes, TEES currently is participating in five national Manufacturing Innovation Institutes. The agency also operates a statewide network of research centers and institutes focused on six research areas: energy systems and services, healthcare, information systems and sensors, infrastructure, materials and manufacturing, and national security and safety.