60NANB23D145

Purpose/Scope:
The Green Engineering and Materials (GEM) Factory of the Future is proposed as an integrated flexible manufacturing space that leverages Industry 4.0, AI-enabled, large-scale additive, subtractive, and hybrid digital manufacturing technology developed by UMAINE and its federal, national lab, and industry partners over the past 10 years. The project will provide approximately 43,000 square feet in new and renovated building space for education and research on a building site of approximately 4 acres, including the building footprint.

Activities to be performed:
To plan and execute this project, the University of Maine and the architect and engineering teams have developed a team structure that includes 13 Project Implementation Teams (PITs) consisting of experts in various aspects of the building. One of these teams focuses on pedagogy and faculty-student interaction in order to ensure that the building is designed in a way to maximize the experiential education opportunities sought.

Expected outcomes:
GEM will usher in a new era of sustainable manufacturing and education in the Northeast by replicating and scaling factories of the future at former mill sites. This will drive massive global demand for wood residuals from the Northern Forest and transfer benefits to rural economies hardest-hit by mill closures, job loss, population flight, and COVID-19. Additionally, this innovative facility will change the way STEM education is delivered to students by providing truly experiential, hands-on learning modalities in these advanced laboratories. This can be thought of as akin to a teaching hospital, where students are learning in similar environments to those they'll eventually work in, alongside professional engineers, scientists, and industrial partners developing and commercializing next-generation technologies.

Intended beneficiaries:
Students are the key to this facility and mission as they are the future workforce who will lead our region's transition to a modern bioeconomy. Additive manufacturing for structural applications - such as housing, boatbuilding, and formwork - has emerged as a pathway to generate results quickly, due to the volume of material required. GEM supports this market with up to 1.75M+ pounds of wood fiber consumed annually and demonstrates equipment and processes in a scalable, replicable manner to build new manufacturing capacity at former mills in the Northern Forests region. GEM will expand UMAINE's use of mass timber products beyond traditional warehouse-type spaces to a more environmentally demanding manufacturing setting. This wood-based technology demonstration will accelerate the market growth of Maine forest products.

Subrecipient activities:
None.

University Of Maine System

11.617 - Congressionally-Identified Projects

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) [DOC]

Orono, Maine 04469-5717 United States

Single Zip Code

None