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IACMI Officially Launches at Knoxville Conference 
If you see convention delegates around Knoxville in the next few days wearing name tags that say IACMI, give them a big welcome! About 375 people are here from across the country for the inaugural members meeting of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, a multi-state effort led by the University of Tennessee and headquartered in Knoxville. 

Mayor Rogero at IACMI Meeting
Mayor Rogero with (from left) Taylor Eighmy, UT Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement; Thom Mason, Director of ORNL; Craig Blue, CEO of IACMI; and David Millhorn, UT Executive Vice President.

IACMI -- pronounced "eye-ack-me" by conference attendees -- was announced in January by President Barack Obama as the fifth national institute for manufacturing innovation. It will focus on applications for advanced composite materials, including:

Lightweight vehicles with record-breaking fuel economy;
Lighter and longer wind turbine blades;
High pressure tanks for natural gas-fueled cars; 
Lighter, more efficient industrial equipment.

Mayor Rogero greeted the delegates this morning, along with ORNL Director Thom Mason; David Millhorn, Executive Vice President of the University of Tennessee; Tom Rogers, ORNL's Director of Industrial and Economic Development Partnerships; and IACMI CEO Craig Blue.

This meeting is the official kick-off of an initial five-year phase of IACMI. Fittngly, speakers addressed the audience from a carbon fiber podium, created in a single piece by an ORNL 3D printer. (Seen in photo, below.)

Mayor Rogero at IACMI
Posted by On 17 June, 2015 at 3:47 PM