Embedding MEP in NNMI Institutes Pilot Projects

NIST invites proposals from current MEP Centers to pilot test approaches to provide needed technology acceleration assistance to small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers (referred to hereinafter as small U.S. manufacturers) through the establishment of meaningful and results oriented collaborations between the nationwide system of Centers operating as part of the NIST Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program (hereinafter referred to as NIST MEP), and the Institutes participating in the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The emphasis of these Pilot Projects will be to demonstrate ways to more fully leverage the assets and resources of the national MEP Program to provide assistance to small U.S. manufacturers in technology areas that are the focus of the NNMI Institutes. These Pilots will embed personnel from MEP Centers in residence at NNMI Institutes, targeting the cultivation of enduring collaborations among small U.S. manufacturers, NNMI Institutes, and MEP Centers for the benefit of all these entities. The Pilots will accelerate the processes by which small U.S. manufacturers transition the latest and most compelling technological innovations into the manufactured goods needed by our Nation.