Letter to Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Energy - Regarding Grant to Establish National Composites Center

Letter

Dear Secretary Moniz,

We write in support of the application submitted by the Long Island Forum for Technology (LIFT) for selection as the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation Clean Energy Manufacturing Institute for Composite Materials and Structures through the U.S. Department of Energy. The funding provided through this competition will support Composites Now!, an initiative which will rapidly develop and deploy affordable fiber reinforced composites.

LIFT's primary mission is to commercialize Long Island's technology, helping to grow the region's economy. As a non-profit economic development organization working with the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), LIFT serves as the area's designated Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP The organization's role is far reaching, including helping businesses secure government contracts and grants to grow their companies; giving companies access to critical business improvement and quality management systems across core areas; providing lean product design and development services, innovation engineering, feasibility studies, material analysis services and rapid prototyping; and offering industry-specific education forums. Composites NOW! will be anchored at the Composite Prototyping Center (CPC), located in Plainview NY, which is a premier non-profit resource, open to the public, for composite applications across diverse industries such as automotive, energy, infrastructure, transportation, and aerospace.

If selected as the Clean Energy Manufacturing Institute for Composite Materials, the requested funding would be used to renovate a 25,000-square-foot building and purchase state-of-the-art equipment to support the Composites Now! initiative at the Composite Prototyping Center. The CPC's mission is to take the best assets available to form a core manufacturing competency in the rapidly growing composite marketplace, while providing companies with essential training / workforce development, process technologies, prototype manufacturing and testing capabilities. The Center will become an extension of each participating manufacturer's R&D /prototype capabilities with the goal of reducing many of the financial and logistical obstacles, enabling them the opportunity to play an active role in the rapidly growing advanced composite supply chain. This project will also eliminate the use of physical templates, improving the productivity of the layup process significantly.

We ask that you please give your full consideration to name the Composites NOW! consortium as the DOE's Clean Energy Manufacturing Institute for Composite Materials and Structures. If you have any questions, or desire further information, please do not hesitate to contact our staff.

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