It’s called Foundry 4.0—a partnership between the Defense Logistics Agency and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, and the University of Northern Iowa and Youngstown State University. The idea is to provide American-based foundries with a competitive edge in technology while optimizing productivity, output, and product quality. In December 2022, two members of the NCDMM team spent a week in Cedar Falls to view the University of Northern Iowa components, including on-site visits with many Iowa industries. Two entities under the UNI Business and Community Services operation play a significant role in the Industry 4.0 Foundry partnership…the Center for Business Growth and Innovation, and the Metal Casting and Foundry 4.0 Centers.
Program manager Brian Schmidt and senior program engineer Ken Carson of NCDMM discussed the project with Jeff Stein of the Iowa Business Report in Waterloo on December 15, 2022.
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