Head and shoulders shot of Sadarsan Rachuri in a computing center.

With the creation of the new Smart Manufacturing Institute on the horizon, the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) is bringing world-class talent in to the lead the way.

Sudarsan Rachuri, an industrial engineer whose background spans academia and 20 years at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), will oversee the new smart manufacturing facility that calls for up to $70 million in federal investment along with private funding. It’s one of the cornerstones of EERE’s efforts to accelerate innovation and U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing.

“Institutes such as this one help develop the technologies crucial to compressing America’s manufacturing innovation cycle and address cross-cutting challenges in advanced manufacturing,” said Rachuri, AMO’s new federal program officer.

Smart technologies such as advanced sensors, controls, platforms and modeling can help U.S. manufacturers capture, share and process data in real-time. This leads to improved processes, equipment reliability, and higher productivity gains at a reduced cost. More efficient processes also means less waste and greenhouse gas emissions. The Smart Manufacturing Institute will support research and development efforts in these areas to reduce deployment costs for smart technologies by as much as 50%, in addition to helping train the next generation workforce on these advancements.

 “Working with public and private sector partners on advanced sensing and instrumentation; process monitoring, control, and optimization, and advanced hardware and software platforms, will help businesses across the spectrum, including small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises,” Rachuri said.

By furthering smart manufacturing technologies with broad applications, the institute will also support the administration’s effort to double U.S. energy efficiency by 2030. It will be the third Energy Department-funded facility and is part of President Obama’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The president envisions an initial network of up to 15 institutes that would grow to 45 over 10 years.

Each institute is a private-public partnership that serves as a regional hub, bridging the gap between applied research and product development by bringing together federal agencies, companies, universities, and other institutions to invest in key technology areas that encourage investment and production in the United States.

Through the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, the Energy Department has already established two innovation institutes in the areas of power electronics and advanced composites. It has also established two new high-impact manufacturing demonstration facilities with its national laboratories that are focused on additive manufacturing and high performance computing power.