NBRC awards $1M in federal funding to the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center

Orono, Maine – On Wednesday, the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) awarded $1 Million in funding for a new and immersive manufacturing and education center called the Green Energy & Materials (GEM) Factory of the Future.

The Green Engineering and Materials (GEM) Laboratory will house the research

Factory of the Future which will be a first-of-its-kind test bed for large format digital flexible manufacturing. The FoF will include specialized spaces for collaboration with industry and government partners, and training of the next-generation manufacturing workforce, including undergraduates, graduate students, and working professionals. The new industries that this

research seeks to spur are envisioned to be key to Maine’s innovation-led economic recovery

The awards are part of the NBRC’s Catalyst Program, driving economic development and infrastructure projects throughout the Northern Border states: Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont.The Advances Structures and Composites center was awarded alongside 16 other recipients resulting in $11 Million in funding to complete economic improvement projects.

“We’re just delighted with this award, and very proud of the fact that we’d be able with our factory of the future to take our heritage industry of forestry and look at new and innovative ways to use products and materials in a host of applications that can all make a difference within the infrastructure for the state of Maine, and beyond,” said University of Maine President and University of Maine Machias President Joan Ferrini-Mundy.

Read coverage from News Center Maine, The Portland Press Herald, and WABI-TV.

Contact: Taylor Ward, taylor.ward@composites.maine.edu