Photonics to Drive Investment Boost in Advanced Manufacturing

Photonics technologies are already key enablers of advanced manufacturing, and new initiatives to boost the US's capabilities in that area will be a good use of the country's photonics R&D, leaders of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, said this week.

On July 18, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology formally adopted a new report by the steering committee of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), a steering committee launched by President Barack Obama in June 2011. The "Report to the President on Capturing Competitive Advantage in Advanced Manufacturing" addresses needs in three broad categories: enabling innovation, securing the talent pipeline and improving the business climate.

"Photonics technologies are already the enablers behind advanced manufacturing, yet we are so far seeing only a thin slice of their full potential to drive growth and create new high-skilled jobs," said SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs. "Countries such as Germany and Korea that have invested heavily in photonics R&D are demonstrating the competitive advantage of these technologies through their lead positions in advanced manufacturing."

The 18-member AMP committee includes the leaders of MIT, the University of California, Berkeley, Northrop Grumman, Carnegie Mellon University, Ford, Intel, Corning and Honeywell. Under the objective of enabling innovation, the committee's recommendations include: establishing a national advanced manufacturing strategy, increasing R&D funding for top cross-cutting technologies, establishing a national network of manufacturing innovation institutes, and changing the treatment of tax-free bond-funded facilities at universities to enable greater and stronger interactions between institutions and industry.

"Photonics applications are exactly the sort of cross-cutting technologies that the report sees as 'vital to advance manufacturing,'" said Robert Lieberman, chairman of the SPIE committee on Engineering, Science and Technology Policy. "Photolithography and machine vision are just two examples. Without photonic technology, computer chips could not be fabricated, and the robots in advanced manufacturing plants would be blind. Even the ubiquitous 'date stamps' on bottles and cans would disappear."

Arthurs also cited technologies such as laser sintering, stereolithography and electron beam melting applications in 3-D printing for the rapid prototyping and manufacture of lighter-weight, higher-quality parts for airplanes and automobiles, and of better-performing and more comfortable hearing aids and joint implants. LEDs and holography provide highly reliable information for quality control, and optical systems use lasers to precisely cut, weld and align manufacturing equipment that produces more-accurate finished products.

"With these photonics applications, the results coming out of the manufacturing process are safer, more energy-efficient cars, more accurate medical equipment, and other life-enhancing innovations," Arthurs said. "The results for society are new better-paying, higher-satisfaction jobs and a stronger, more stable economy."

An interagency Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO) has been established by the administration to coordinate federal manufacturing resources and programs and to foster the creation of private-public partnerships focused on manufacturing innovation.

The new office, which is hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is acting on the AMP committee recommendation to establish a national network of manufacturing innovation institutes. In his budget for fiscal year 2013, President Obama proposed a one-time, $1 billion investment to build the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, consisting of up to 15 regional innovation institutes. Through regional workshops and other means, the AMNPO is gathering public input on the design of the proposed network.

Access the entire report and supporting documents at: www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pcast