At the annual America Makes Members Meeting and Exchange held last week, Rob Gorham, executive director of manufacturing initiatives in the Office of Business Development at the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and former America Makes executive director, was awarded the America Makes Distinguished Collaborator Award. This award is their highest honor, awarded to recipients for their contributions to the advancement of technology, practices and innovation in the manufacturing industry.
“I am humbled to receive the America Makes Distinguished Collaborator Award. It symbolizes my drive and passion for using collaboration as a means to accelerate the broad adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies,” said Gorham. “America Makes, as the first of 14 Manufacturing USA Institutes, continues to demonstrate collaboration as a sustainable value proposition to the membership they serve, and I am proud to be associated with such a great organization. As part of the TEES leadership team, I am committed to bringing the same spirit of collaboration forward in doing our part to secure American manufacturing competitiveness through the missions of research, commercialization and workforce development.”
John Wilczynski, America Makes executive director, added, “During his tenure at America Makes, primarily as executive director, Rob worked tirelessly and enthusiastically to lay the strategic groundwork for the institute’s continued success. He strongly believes in and supports the mission of America Makes—a fact he continues to demonstrate in his current role at TEES and our second America Makes satellite center. We congratulate Rob for this well-deserved honor and his many contributions to America Makes.”
In March, TEES announced it was partnering with America Makes to establish an America Makes satellite center on the Texas A&M University campus in College Station. 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.