NIAR to get America Makes’ third satellite center

America Makes’ third satellite center will be located on the campus of Wichita State University (WSU) within the facilities of the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) in Wichita, Kansas. The memorandum of understanding between America Makes and platinum-level member WSU was announced at the National Center for Aviation Training (NCAT).

Established in 1985, NIAR has a $70 million annual budget; a staff of 550; and nearly 1 million square feet of laboratory and office space in four locations across the city of Wichita.

America Makes Executive Director John Wilczynski said, “For more than 30 years, NIAR has made a name for itself as the most capable university-based aviation research center in the United States, providing research, design, testing, certification, and training to the aviation manufacturing industries. As our next America Makes Satellite Center, NIAR will have the unique distinction of being our first industry-specific satellite center solely focused on advancing the use of additive manufacturing within the aerospace industry.”

John S. Tomblin, Ph.D., WSU vice president for research and technology transfer and NIAR executive director said, “We have already seen great benefits as members of America Makes, and we expect our increased involvement as a satellite center to magnify those for us and for America Makes.”

“With NIAR joining the America Makes Satellite Center infrastructure, we are very excited to focus on certifying and qualifying additive technologies within the aerospace sector,” said America Makes Director of Partnerships & Community Relations Erin O’Donnell.

NIAR offers capabilities, technology, and expertise with 20 on-site labs. Additionally, NIAR is home to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for Composites and Advanced Materials (CECAM) and the National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP), which is funded through the FAA and Air Force Research Laboratory.

Based in Youngstown, Ohio, America Makes is the is the national accelerator for additive manufacturing (AM) and the first institute within the Manufacturing USA infrastructure. It is managed by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). America Makes currently is comprised of approximately 220 member organizations, bringing together technical minds from government, industry, and academia to create a hub of advanced manufacturing innovation in AM.

America Makes founded its first satellite center in 2015 at the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). In March 2019, America Makes announced that its second satellite center would be located at the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), a part of The Texas A&M University System, in College Station, Texas.