Aiken Times

For more information contact: USC Aiken News (803) 641-3738, news@usca.edu

Aiken, SC (04/21/2022) — Local officials, along with leaders from the University of South Carolina Aiken (USC Aiken), the Department of Energy (DOE), and Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), broke ground Tuesday, April 19, on the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative (AMC) facility to be built on the USC Aiken campus. The facility will provide accessible, modern, and flexible laboratory space for the DOE Office of Environmental Management's Savannah River National Laboratory and its collaboration partners.

USC Aiken Chancellor, Dr. Daniel Heimmermann, thanked the DOE and the Aiken County Commission for Higher Education for locating the AMC on the USC Aiken campus and bringing together academia, industry, and the National Laboratories across the manufacturing sectors. "USC Aiken is pleased to host the DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative," he said. "This innovation hub will provide outstanding research and development opportunities for our students and create limitless opportunities for advancement in the various STEM fields throughout Aiken and the CSRA."

"The AMC will generate modern manufacturing approaches for the DOE's cleanup mission - then spin-off innovations to support manufacturing competitiveness in chemical and materials for companies across the state, region, and nation," said Ike White, senior advisor for the Office of Environmental Management. "The innovation developed in the AMC will help the DOE better manage risk, improve worker safety, reduce costs, and accelerate schedules for our existing cleanup missions."

The 60,000-square-foot facility will not only provide new laboratory, office, and conference space suitable for advanced manufacturing research and development, but more importantly, it will house collaborative and research and development spaces for spinning innovative technologies into the DEO and spinning them out into the commercial sector.

"The AMC will embody the modern concepts of manufacturing to include smart and digital manufacturing and remote and autonomous systems embracing the tenets of Industry 4.0 manufacturing," said Dr. Vahid Majidi, director, SRNL. "and it will accelerate the establishment of SRNL's expanded core competencies by connecting scientists and engineers from across the Battelle Savannah River Alliance partnership."

Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina noted that after working on the project for over five years, he was grateful to finally be breaking ground.

"This project will be an economic driver for the region and the state," said Wilson. "The AMC will maximize industry and education and create more jobs in the CSRA."

The facility's location was set up through a no-cost land lease agreement between the Department and the ACCHE. Construction of the facility is expected to be completed in 2024.

Original source can be found here.