LIFT, the Detroit-based Department of Defense national manufacturing innovation institute, today announced plans to begin technology and talent development operations in Puerto Rico in support of the Island’s manufacturing base and workforce.
The institute, a nonprofit public-private partnership between industry, academia, and government, is supported by $1.9 million in funding from the Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program, overseen by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. LIFT will immediately begin convening local stakeholders to further assess how it can meet the innovation the needs of the Island’s manufacturers as well as prepare the workforce to work in the advanced manufacturing sector.
LIFT, founded in 2014, as one of the original Manufacturing USA institutes, serves as a technology accelerator, working at the intersection of materials science, manufacturing processes, systems engineering and talent development to enhance our national economy and national security. This connection enables the institute, and its more than 300 organization ecosystem to advance technologies – such as hypersonic materials development and lightweight armor systems – into commercial industry and into the hands of the warfighter quickly, all while preparing the workforce for the advanced manufacturing jobs available today and better preparing it for the jobs of the future.