Rochester Institute of Technology’s Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS) was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy, as part of its Manufacturing USA initiative, to lead its new Reducing Embodied-Energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) Institute—a national coalition of leading universities and companies that will forge new clean energy initiatives deemed critical in keeping U.S. manufacturing competitive.
The REMADE Institute, under the RIT-led Sustainable Manufacturing Innovation Alliance (SMIA), will leverage up to $70 million in federal funding that will be matched by $70 million in private cost-share commitments from industry and other consortium members, including 85 partners.
REMADE will focus its efforts on driving down the cost of technologies essential to reuse, recycle and remanufacture materials such as metals, fibers, polymers and electronic waste and aims to achieve a 50-percent improvement in overall energy efficiency by 2027. These efficiency measures could save billions of dollars in energy costs and improve U.S. economic competitiveness through innovative new manufacturing techniques, small business opportunities and offer new training and jobs for American workers.
The university will work in collaboration with Idaho National Lab, Argonne National Lab, University of Illinois and other leading universities (including Georgia Institute of Technology), national labs and industrial partners in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. In all, 26 universities, 44 companies, seven national labs, 26 industry trade associations and foundations and three states (New York, Colorado and Utah) are engaged in the effort.
Dr. Bert Bras, Professor at the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, will serve as co-leader of the Design Node of the Sustainable Manufacturing Innovation Alliance along with Professor Deborah Thurston at the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign.
“We are very excited about being part of this award because it shows our commitment to sustainability. Georgia Tech is not only a member, but also designated as a co-lead of the Design Node together with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Georgia Tech effort includes participants from College of Engineering (ME, ISYE, CHBE), College of Design, College of Business (Center for Sustainable Business), as well as several IRIs (SEI, IMAT, RBI, BBISS). There is a large role for Georgia Tech to play in this REMADE initiative and it also offers great opportunities for engaging companies in our work”, said Bras.