Composites leading way to manufacturing's future in ET

East Tennessee is fast becoming a center for advanced manufacturing, and an announcement last week adds momentum to the effort.

Lockheed Martin, Ford Motor Co. and DowAksa have followed through on pledges of $5 million each over five years to support the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation.

The institute, a consortium of companies, research facilities and other organizations, works to advance the development of new materials for use in cars, airplanes and other products.

By becoming “charter members" of the institute, the companies will have a say in the direction of the institute and a representative on the institute's board of directors.

The institute is already attracting manufacturing companies to the area that will provide high-paying jobs in high-tech workplaces.

The institute is made up of 123 companies and organizations that try to coordinate innovation from national laboratories, such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and manufacturers. It is one of 45 industrial innovation hubs across the country established as part of an Obama administration initiative to increase American competitiveness in advanced technologies.

ORNL, the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University and the University of Kentucky are partners in the institute’s composite materials initiative. Other components of the institute are located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, Michigan State University, Purdue University and the University of Dayton Research Institute in Ohio.

Composites such as carbon fiber offer advantages in strength, weight and other factors compared  with traditional materials. For example, Ford is working with the institute to pioneer processes that will use carbon fiber in next generation vehicles to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Since 2015, Ford has used military-grade aluminum alloy sheet produced at the Alcoa Inc. plant in Blount County for its F-150 truck. This allows a 700-pound decrease in the weight of the truck, resulting in an EPA-estimated 5 to 29 percent increase in fuel economy, according to Ford.

The use of composites has increased in automobiles, aircraft, wind turbines and compressed gas storage, among other uses. In 2010, more than 234,550 jobs were posted for composite-related materials nationally and that number had doubled by 2015, according to the composite institute.

The institute was established with more than $250 million in funding, including $70 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, $15 million from the state of Tennessee and the rest from other partners and companies.

Among the businesses attracted to the area in part because of the institute are LeMond Composites, Leisure Pools and Local Motors.

LeMond Composites, founded by three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, is an example of the potential benefits the institute offers the region. LeMond will manufacture high-volume, low-cost carbon fiber for applications in fields such as transportation, renewable energy and infrastructure, and is expected to employ nearly 250 highly skilled workers over the next five years.

Leisure Pools anticipates employing about 1,000 at its factory in Forks of the River Industrial Park within a decade. Local Motors produces cars utilizing 3-D printing processes developed at ORNL.

Pioneering organizations such as the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation represent the future of American industry. The institute offers opportunities for investment and employment in East Tennessee.