LMP’s 6th Annual Manufacturing Summit
Manufacturing, Innovation, and Economic Growth

For years the US has watched as its manufacturing industries and corresponding jobs have migrated to other countries. Consequently, its ability to compete globally in manufacturing has substantially weakened, concurrently threatening the country’s technology innovation capability.

A June 2011 report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) found that the country’s 2001 surplus trade balance in advanced manufactured products slid to an $81 billion deficit by 2010. Furthermore, the US has already relinquished its leadership in high-tech industries, which typically employ highly-skilled workers, according to PCAST in its “Report to the President on Ensuring American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing.”

“The American public has seemed to resign itself to the fact that the US is on the verge of losing its decades old supremacy in manufacturing,” said David E. Hardt, the Ralph E. and Eloise F. Cross Professor of Mechanical Engineering. However, the US must strengthen its ability to manufacture, as there is ample evidence to support that it’s the basis for economic growth and employment, he added.

To focus and foster the discussion of how to address these issues and trends, faculty from the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity (LMP) will host its 6th annual Manufacturing Summit on Oct. 27 and 28 – its theme: Revitalizing US Manufacturing to Capitalize on Innovation.

SUMMIT FOCUS

The two-day LMP Manufacturing Summit, organized by Hardt, Jung-Hoon Chun, LMP Director and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Brian W. Anthony, Program Director of the Master of Engineering in Manufacturing program, will feature presenters from industry, government, and academia, who will discuss their perspective on the business, policy and economics, and educational programs required for continued manufacturing in the US.

More specifically, the presentations will focus on how to alter the perception of manufacturing in the US, and the importance of attracting young professionals to careers in manufacturing.

The popular perception of the value and importance of manufacturing has waned in the US. “Rewarding, stimulating, and upwardly-mobile careers are available in manufacturing,” said Anthony. “Surprisingly, companies indicate that they struggle to find the talent to fill their positions. Perhaps this is because we fail to convey the exciting opportunities available in manufacturing.”

Summit presentations will cover what must be done to keep the country’s economic engine strong and growing. Corporations are global citizens who will locate manufacturing facilities where they find the appropriate talent, technologies, tax policies, and customers, said Anthony. In order to generate wealth, provide jobs, and sustain an ecosystem of innovation every country must manufacture.

“We must all work together – industry, academia, government, and the financial sector – to strengthen this country’s invaluable resource,” said Anthony.

SUMMIT IMPACT ON MANUFACTURING

“The LMP Manufacturing Summit coincides with and reinforces the recent push toward resurrecting the country’s manufacturing industry,” said Chun. Following a recommendation made by PCAST, President Barack Obama created the new Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP) in June, which collectively combines the efforts of industry, government, and academia to identify and invest in the country’s manufacturing innovation. MIT President, Susan Hockfield, is a co-chair of the AMP.

The LMP summit will launch the planning and support of new initiatives, while at the same time strengthening and highlighting existing ones. Summit participants will generate a report describing industry employment needs and the opportunity for better industry and academia partnerships. In addition, a proposal to the US government and industry will also be created, outlining the need for educational programs that target careers in advanced manufacturing.

“The key is brining together diverse academicians and industry and government leaders to share in this message,” said Hardt.

The LMP Manufacturing Summit: Revitalizing US Manufacturing to Capitalize on Innovation will be held on Thursday, Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the MIT EECS Grier Room Combined. On Friday, Oct. 28 the seminar will be held at the Boston Marriott Cambridge from 9 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

--Kierstin Wesolowski--