(SME: Dearborn, MI) -- The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) will be playing an integral role in the new National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) announced on Aug. 16, 2012, by the U.S. Department of Commerce and Department of Defense in Youngstown, Ohio.

The $30 million grant was awarded to the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining as a partnership between dozens of companies, universities, and nonprofit organizations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The goal of the pilot institute, scheduled to launch in September 2012, is to increase the successful transition of additive manufacturing technology to manufacturing enterprises within the United States. The announcement was made by White House National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank, Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kendall, and other senior administration officials.

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