The Defense Department is partnering with a large-scale
consortium in the creation of a National Manufacturing Innovation Institute to
produce hybrid electronics, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced today at Moffett
Federal Airfield, California.
The FlexTech Alliance consortium of 96 companies, 41
universities, 14 state and local government organizations, 11 labs and
non-profits will showcase the new institute as it advances manufacturing
frontiers among Pentagon, academia and private-sector partners, Carter said.
Flexible hybrid electronics have enormous potential
for the defense mission, the secretary said.
DoD will invest $75 million in the institute, which
will be established in Silicon Valley, he said, adding that DoD public- and
private-sector partners in the audience today, have contributed investments
that match or exceed the department’s investment.
An
Emerging Technology
Carter described hybrid electronics as an emerging
technology that uses advanced flexible materials for circuits, communications,
sensors and power and combines them with thinned silicon chips “to ultimately
produce the next generation of electronic products.”
With hybrid electronics, Carter said, DoD’s industry
partners will be able to shape electronics to platforms, after decades of
having to do things the other way around, “by seamlessly printing lightweight,
flexible structural integrity sensors right onto the surfaces of ships and
aircraft, or folding them into cracks and crevices where rigid circuit boards
and bulky wiring could never fit, we’ll be able to have real-time damage
reports -- making the stuff of science fiction in that sense into reality.”
The new technologies also will make lifesaving
advances and improve mission effectiveness, the secretary said.
Helping
the Troops Directly
“Our troops will be able to lighten their loads with
sensors and electronic gear embedded in their clothing, and wounded warriors
will benefit from smart prosthetics that have the full flexibility of human
skin,” Carter noted.
Other defense applications include intelligent
bandages and smart clothing that will alert soldiers to the first signs of
injury or exhaustion, he said. Structural integrity sensors will offer
real-time damage assessment for helicopters or aircraft after engagement. Small,
unattended sensors will give soldiers greater situational awareness.
“Like the six other manufacturing innovation
institutes established by President [Barack] Obama over the last three years, four
of which DoD helped lead … this will ensure that pioneering innovations needed
to develop, manufacture, and commercialize these cutting-edge electronics will
happen right here in America,” Carter noted.
“The reality, though, is … we don’t know all the
applications this new technology will make possible -- that’s the remarkable
thing about innovation -- and it’s another reason why America, and America’s
military, must get there first,” the secretary said.
(Follow Terri Moon Cronk on Twitter: @MoonCronkDoD)