Letter to Secretary Moniz - RIT Will Lead Critical Project and Help Revolutionize The US Manufacturing Industry

Letter

Dear Secretary Moniz,

We are pleased to write in support of the application submitted by a Rochester Institute of Technology-led (RIT) national consortium, the Sustainable Manufacturing Innovation Alliance, to establish the U.S. Department of Energy's next national manufacturing institute: the Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CEMII) for Reducing Embodied-Energy and Decreasing Emissions (REMADE) in Materials Manufacturing. RIT has long been a recognized global leader for its work in fostering and developing new manufacturing methods and practices that help industry make products more efficiently and more sustainably while using less energy.

As global competition and resource scarcity increases, U.S. manufacturers will look for new solutions to help them reduce the cost of raw materials, energy, water, and more by becoming more efficient and sustainable. The mission of the REMADE institute is to not only pioneer these solutions to make U.S. manufacturing better by reducing net-energy costs and reducing costly manufacturing waste materials and emissions, but to also grow new clean tech and clean energy industry and jobs.

RIT is uniquely suited to lead this institute and achieve its mission. RIT has a strong demonstrated track record of working with industry, military, government, and others to deliver results and savings by innovating new sustainable manufacturing methods. Spearheaded through its Golisano Institute of Sustainability (GIS), RIT has shown it can transfer research out of its labs and classrooms and apply it in real-life industrial manufacturing plants, many of which are producing more sustainable products today thanks to RIT's work.

RIT, together with the more than one hundred research universities, national labs, and industrial partners like Xerox and Caterpillar that make up the Sustainable Manufacturing Innovation Alliance (SMIA) are positioned to develop new technologies that when employed by Institute members during its first five years of operations can achieve new manufacturing efficiencies by reducing manufacturing material waste, increasing remanufacturing applications, and boosting material recycling. The aim will be a 50% increase in sales for the U.S. manufacturing industry to $21.5 billion and the creation of a next-generation recycling and manufacturing workforce.

Based in New York State, the Institute HUB led by RIT through the SMIA can best leverage existing capabilities in New York and across the nation to create new clean energy and clean tech opportunities to help our U.S. manufacturers expand and compete.

Again, we strongly support this application and appreciate your consideration. Manufacturing is the backbone of our economy and we thank you in advance for your work and leadership to help it grow.

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