Design of Manufacturing Machines, Systems, and Processes

Design of Manufacturing Machines, Systems, and Processes is sponsored by National Science Foundation. Funds research on design, analysis, and control of manufacturing systems with engineering design focus. This program should be reviewed carefully against your organization's mission, staffing capacity, timeline, and compliance readiness before you commit resources to a full application. Strong submissions usually translate sponsor priorities into concrete objectives, clear implementation milestones, and measurable public benefit.

For planning purposes, treat rolling deadlines or periodic funding windows as your working submission target unless the sponsor publishes an updated notice. A competitive project plan should include a documented need statement, implementation approach, evaluation framework, risk controls, and a realistic budget narrative. Even when a grant allows broad program design, reviewers still expect credible evidence that the proposed work can be executed within the grant period and with appropriate accountability.

Current published award information indicates $300,000 - $1,200,000 Organizations should verify the final funding range, matching requirements, and allowability rules directly in the official opportunity materials before preparing a budget. Finance and program teams should align early so direct costs, indirect costs, staffing assumptions, procurement timelines, and reporting obligations all remain consistent throughout drafting and post-award administration.

Eligibility guidance for this opportunity is: Universities, colleges If your organization has partnerships, subrecipients, or collaborators, define responsibilities and compliance ownership before submission. Reviewers often look for implementation credibility, so letters of commitment, prior performance evidence, and a clear governance model can materially strengthen the application narrative and reduce concerns about delivery risk.

A practical approach is to begin with a focused readiness review, then build a workback schedule from the sponsor deadline. Confirm required attachments, registration dependencies, and internal approval checkpoints early. This reduces last-minute issues and improves submission quality. For the most accurate requirements, always rely on the official notice and primary source links associated with Design of Manufacturing Machines, Systems, and Processes.

**National Science Foundation** Directorate for Engineering Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate for Biological Sciences Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate for Education and Human Resources Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Office of International Science and Engineering Office of Integrative Activities **Letter of Intent Due Date(s) _(required)_** (due by 5 p.

m. submitter's local time): **Full Proposal Deadline(s)** (due by 5 p. m.

submitter's local time): ### Important Information And Revision Notes A revised version of the _NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide_ (PAPPG) (NSF 20-1), is effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after June 1, 2020. Please be advised that, depending on the specified due date, the guidelines contained in NSF 20-1 may apply to proposals submitted in response to this solicitation. ### [](https://www.

nsf.

gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation)Summary Of Program Requirements > Future Manufacturing (FM) > As stated in the _Strategy for American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing_, worldwide competition in manufacturing has been dominated in recent decades by the maturation, commoditization, and widespread application of computation in production equipment and logistics, effectively leveling the global technological playing field and putting a premium on low wages and incremental technical improvements.

[[1]](https://www. nsf. gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation#1) The _next_ generation of technological competition in manufacturing will be dictated by inventions of new materials, chemicals, devices, systems, processes, machines, design and work methods, social structures and business practices.

Fundamental research will be required in robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, materials science, sustainability, education and public policy, and workforce development to take the lead in this global competition. The research supported under this solicitation will enhance U. S.

leadership in manufacturing far into the future by providing new capabilities for established companies and entrepreneurs, improving our health and quality of life, and reducing the impact of manufacturing industries on the environment.

> The goal of this solicitation is to support fundamental research and education of a future workforce that will enable Future Manufacturing: manufacturing that either does not exist today or exists only at such small scales that it is not viable.

Future Manufacturing will require the design and deployment of diverse new technologies for synthesis and sensing, and new algorithms for manufacturing new materials, chemicals, devices, components and systems.

It will require new advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, new cyber infrastructure, new approaches for mathematical and computational modeling, new dynamics and control methodologies, new ways to integrate systems biology, synthetic biology and bioprocessing, and new ways to influence the economy, workforce, human behavior, and society.

> Among this array of technologies and potential research subjects, three thrust areas have been identified for support in FY 2020 under this solicitation: > **Future Cyber Manufacturing Research**, > **Future Eco Manufacturing Research**, and > **Future Biomanufacturing Research**. > This solicitation seeks proposals to perform fundamental research to enable new manufacturing capabilities in one or more of these thrust areas.

> This solicitation will support the following three award tracks: > **Future Manufacturing Research Grants (FMRG)** - Two types of awards will be supported in FY 2020: > Type I: $500,000 to $750,000 per year for up to five years, > Type II: $750,000 to $2,000,000 per year for up to five years; > **Future Manufacturing Seed Grants (FMSG)** - Awards in this track will provide support for up to two years at a level not to exceed $250,000 per year; and > **Future Manufacturing Networks (FMNet)** - Awards in this track will provide up to five years of support at a total amount of $500,000.

> Interdisciplinary teams commensurate with the scope of the proposed research, education plan, and budget are required. Proposals must include demonstrated expertise among the team members to carry out the proposed research, education, and workforce development activities. The use of a convergence approach is expected[[2]](https://www.

nsf. gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation#2). > The goal of this solicitation is to enable new manufacturing that represents a significant change from current practice.

Therefore, proposers responding to this solicitation must include within the Project Description a section titled Enabling Future Manufacturing. Please see "Full Proposal Preparation Instructions" for additional details. > Realization of the benefits of the fundamental research supported under this solicitation will require the simultaneous education of a skilled technical workforce that can transition new discoveries into U.

S. manufacturing companies. The National Science Board has recently emphasized this perspective in its report, "THE SKLLED TECHNICAL WORKFORCE: Crafting America's Science and Engineering Enterprise."

[[3]](https://www. nsf. gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation#1) Therefore, proposers responding to this solicitation must include within the Project Description a section titled Education and Workforce Development Plan that describes plans to equip students and upskill the workforce to enable Future Manufacturing.

Please see "Full Proposal Preparation Instructions" for additional details. > FURTHER INFORMATION: An informational webinar will be held on March 26, 2020 at 1:00 PM EST to discuss the Future Manufacturing program and answer questions about this solicitation. Details about how to join this webinar will be posted at https://www.

nsf. gov/div/index. jsp?

div=CMMI. > [](https://www. nsf.

gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation)[1] https://www. whitehouse. gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Advanced-Manufacturing-Strategic-Plan-2018.

pdf > [](https://www. nsf. gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation)[2] https://www.

nsf. gov/od/oia/convergence/index. jsp > [](https://www.

nsf. gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation)[3] https://www. nsf.

gov/publications/pub_summ. jsp? ods_key=nsb201923 **Cognizant Program Officer(s):** _Please note that the following information is current at the time of publishing.

See program website for any updates to the points of contact. _ * William Olbricht, Program Director, (ENG/CBET), telephone: (703) 292-4842, email: wolbrich@nsf. gov * Andrew B.

Wells, Program Director, (ENG/CMMI), telephone: (703) 292-7225, email: awells@nsf. gov * Senay Agca, Program Director, (SBE/SES), telephone: (703) 292-2459, email: sagca@nsf. gov * Edward J.

Berger, Program Director, (ENG/EEC), telephone: (703) 292-7708, email: eberger@nsf. gov * Annalisa Calini, Program Director, (MPS/DMS), telephone: (703) 292-7921, email: acalini@nsf. gov * Celeste Carter, Program Director, (EHR/ATE), telephone: (703) 292-4651, email: vccarter@nsf.

gov * Jose Colom-Ustariz, Program Director, (OIA), telephone: (703) 292-7088, email: jcolom@nsf. gov * David Corman, Program Director, (CISE/CNS), telephone: (703) 292-8754, email: dcorman@nsf. gov * John Jackman, Program Director, (EHR/DUE), telephone: (703) 292-4816, email: jjackman@nsf.

gov * Bruce M. Kramer, Program Director, Senior Advisor, (ENG/CMMI), telephone: (703) 292-5348, email: bkramer@nsf. gov * Elizabeth E.

Lyons, Program Director, (OISE), telephone: (703) 292-7256, email: elyons@nsf. gov * Debasis Majumdar, Program Director, (MPS/DMR), telephone: (703) 292-4709, email: dmajumda@nsf. gov * Elebeoba E.

May, Program Director, (BIO/MCB), telephone: (703) 292-2100, email: emay@nsf. gov * Eduardo A. Misawa, Program Director, (ENG/EEC), telephone: (703) 292-5353, email: emisawa@nsf.

gov * Kenneth Moloy, Program Director, (MPS/CHE), telephone: (703) 292-8441, email: kmoloy@nsf. gov * Erik Pierstorff, Program Director, (ENG/IIP), telephone: (703) 292-2165, email: epiersto@nsf. gov * Carole J.

Read, Program Director, (ENG/CBET), telephone: (703) 292-2418, email: cread@nsf. gov * Gregory Reed, Program Director, (ENG/IIP), telephone: (703) 292-2003, email: gregreed@nsf. gov * Sandip Roy, Program Director, (CISE/CNS), telephone: (703) 292-8950, email: saroy@nsf.

gov * Usha Varshney, Program Director, (ENG/ECCS), telephone: (703) 292-8339, email: uvarshne@nsf. gov * Ralph F. Wachter, Program Director, (CISE/CNS), telephone: (703) 292-8950, email: rwachter@nsf.

gov **Applicable Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s):** * 47. 049 --- Mathematical and Physical Sciences * 47. 070 --- Computer and Information Science and Engineering * 47.

074 --- Biological Sciences * 47. 075 --- Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences * 47. 076 --- Education and Human Resources * 47.

079 --- Office of International Science and Engineering * 47.

083 --- Office of Integrative Activities (OIA) **Anticipated Type of Award:** Standard Grant or Continuing Grant **Estimated Number of Awards:** 20 In FY 2020, depending on the quality of submissions and the availability of funds: -- approximately five Type I FM Research Grants will be awarded as Standard awards or Continuing grants for a period up to five years; -- approximately two Type II FM Research Grants will be awarded as Standard awards or Continuing grants for a period up to five years; -- approximately ten FM Seed Grants will be awarded as Standard awards or Continuing grants for a period up to two years; and -- approximately three FM Research Network Grants will be awarded as Standard awards or Continuing grants for a period up to five years.

**Proposals Involving Multiple Organizations. ** The Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) describes two kinds of collaborative proposal formats. This solicitation allows only a single proposal submission with subawards administered by the lead organization (Chapter II.

D. 3. a).

For proposals involving multiple organizations, a lead organization must submit a proposal that describes the entire project. Funds may be distributed to other participating organizations as subawards from the lead organization. A budget on the standard NSF budget form and budget justification should be included for each subawardee.

The other format of a collaborative proposal, in which each participating institution submits its own proposal, will not be accepted. **Anticipated Funding Amount:** $40,000,000 #### Eligibility Information **Who May Submit Proposals:** > The categories of proposers eligible to submit proposals to the National Science Foundation are identified in the _NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide_ (PAPPG), Chapter I. E.

Unaffiliated individuals are not eligible to submit proposals in response to this solicitation. > There are no restrictions or limits. **Limit on Number of Proposals per Organization:** > There are no restrictions or limits.

**Limit on Number of Proposals per PI or Co-PI:** > An investigator may be a PI, co-PI or Senior Personnel on only one proposal in each track (FMRG, FMSG, and FMNet). In the event that an investigator exceeds this limit, proposals received within the limit will be accepted based on earliest date and time of proposal submission . The remainder will be returned without review.

This limitation includes proposals submitted by a lead organization and any subawards included as part of a proposal involving multiple institutions. #### Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions **A. Proposal Preparation Instructions** * **Letters of Intent:** Submission of Letters of Intent is required.

Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. * **Preliminary Proposal Submission:** Not required * Full Proposals submitted via FastLane: _NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide_ (PAPPG) guidelines apply. The complete text of the PAPPG is available electronically on the NSF website at: https://www.

nsf. gov/publications/pub_summ. jsp?

ods_key=pappg. * Full Proposals submitted via Grants. gov: _NSF Grants.

gov Application Guide: A Guide for the Preparation and Submission of NSF Applications via Grants. gov_ guidelines apply (Note: The _NSF Grants. gov Application Guide_ is available on the Grants.

gov website and on the NSF website at: https://www. nsf. gov/publications/pub_summ.

jsp? ods_key=grantsgovguide). **B.

Budgetary Information** * **Cost Sharing Requirements:** Inclusion of voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited. * **Indirect Cost (F&A) Limitations:** * **Other Budgetary Limitations:** * **Letter of Intent Due Date(s) _(required)_** (due by 5 p. m.

submitter's local time): * **Full Proposal Deadline(s)** (due by 5 p. m. submitter's local time): #### Proposal Review Information Criteria **Merit Review Criteria:** National Science Board approved criteria.

Additional merit review criteria apply. Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. #### Award Administration Information Additional award conditions apply.

Please see the full text of this solicitation for further information. **Reporting Requirements:** Standard NSF reporting requirements apply. ### [](https://www.

nsf. gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation)Table Of Contents > **Summary of Program Requirements** 2. **Program Description** 4.

**Eligibility Information** 5. **Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions** 1. Proposal Preparation Instructions 4.

FastLane/Research. gov/Grants. gov Requirements 6.

**NSF Proposal Processing and Review Procedures** 1. Merit Review Principles and Criteria 2. Review and Selection Process 7.

**Award Administration Information** 1. Notification of the Award 3. Reporting Requirements ### [](https://www.

nsf. gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation)I.

Introduction Future Manufacturing is a cross-directorate program supported by NSF’s Directorates for Engineering (ENG), Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Biological Sciences (BIO), Education and Human Resources (EHR), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), and Social, Behavioral, and Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE), the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and the Office of Integrative Activities (OIA).

The goal of the Future Manufacturing program is to support fundamental research that will enable manufacturing approaches that are either entirely new or that can be done today but not at a sufficient scale to make them economically viable.

Future Manufacturing will complement existing efforts, supported by NSF and other federal agencies, in advanced manufacturing, but the focus of this program is to enable new, potentially transformative, manufacturing capabilities rather than to improve current manufacturing.

Some benefits of the approaches used in advanced manufacturing may translate to projects in Future Manufacturing, but the important distinction is that Future Manufacturing addresses fundamental research to enable manufacturing that is currently not possible or is not possible at a scale that makes it viable. Proposals that are incremental improvements over existing advanced manufacturing technologies will not be competitive.

Proposals should provide examples of how the research results could lead to transformational manufacturing advances that address significant problems. They should provide a vision statement describing the new manufacturing capabilities that could be enabled by the proposed research, and the potential industrial and societal benefits.

They should also describe the implications of the proposed activities on the education of the skilled technical workforce.

Future Manufacturing will involve the production of new materials, chemicals, devices and systems, new chemical and biological processes, new methods to make manufacturing commercially viable at scale, new approaches such as origami-based manufacturing, integration of manufacturing processes in novel ways, new mathematical and computational methods for process design and control, new data mining and predictive analytics for manufacturing, and new modalities of work.

Results will help the manufacturing enterprise minimize environmental impact, manage waste, and optimize the use of resources. The results of this program, when translated to practice, should lead to the formation of new industries and organization structures, enable new manufacturing capabilities among a broad range of producers, enhance U. S.

competitiveness in the development and production of new products, bolster economic growth, benefit society at large, and educate students and other workforce participants with the skills required for leadership in Future Manufacturing. Future Manufacturing proposals in all three tracks should demonstrate the need for sustained support of a multidisciplinary team using a convergence research approach.

Inclusion of minority-serving institutions is especially encouraged. Proposals must describe how the project team is appropriate to realize the project’s goals and how the team will assure effective collaboration. A compelling rationale must be presented for a multi-institution structure of the project, if appropriate.

Therefore, proposers responding to this solicitation must include a Project Management and Collaboration plan. Please see "Full Proposal Preparation Instructions" for additional details. Proposals may take advantage of significant efforts underway to improve the nation’s manufacturing capabilities.

For example, proposals may leverage activities of other manufacturing initiatives such as the Manufacturing USA Institutes, NSF’s Engineering Research Centers, EPSCoR-supported advanced manufacturing research collaborations, and NSF's manufacturing-focused Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers.

Educational efforts are encouraged to leverage, interface with, or adapt aspects of proven NSF funding opportunities such as Non-Academic Research Internships for Graduate Students (INTERN), the Division of Undergraduate Education’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) and Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) Programs, EPSCoR, Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), Research Experiences for Teachers (RET), Research in the Formation of Engineers (RFE), and Professional Formation of Engineers (PFE), and programs for Research Initiation in Engineering Formation (RIEF) and Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (RED).

### [](https://www. nsf. gov/funding/opportunities/fm-future-manufacturing/nsf20-552/solicitation)II.

Program Description This Future Manufacturing solicitation will support fundamental research and education in the following three tracks: **Future Manufacturing Research Grants (FMRG)** Awards in this track will support fundamental, multidisciplinary, and integrative research and education to enable Future Manufacturing in one or more of the thrust areas described below.

Type I awards in this category will provide up to five years of support at a level between $500,000 and $750,000 per year. The funding is intended to provide support for several principal investigators with complementary expertise, graduate students, some senior personnel (including post-doctoral researchers), and their collective research needs (e. g.

, materials, supplies and travel). Type II awards in this category will provide up to five years of support at a level between $750,000 and $2,000,000 per year. The funding is intended to provide support for larger numbers of investigators, graduate students, senior personnel, and staff, and equipment and supplies.

A compelling argument justifying Type II funding, based upon the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts of the proposal, is required. For both types of awards, the integrative contributions of the team should clearly be greater than the sum of the contributions of each individual member of the team.

FMRG proposals must describe the current state of art in the relevant manufacturing area and the specific challenges that will be addressed by the proposed research. They must present a compelling technical rationale and convincing technical approach to enable Future Manufacturing to address these challenges.

An essential part of this argument is to explain clearly how the proposed research will provide new manufacturing capabilities that are not currently available. Proposals must include a prospective vision for translation of fundamental research results to manufacturing practice, even if that translation is not part of the proposed research.

They must explain the potential benefits and challenges of new manufacturing to the economy, communities and to society as a whole. Partnerships with two-year institutions to educate the skilled technical workforce are encouraged.

**Future Manufacturing Seed Grants****(FMSG)** Awards in this track will provide support to stimulate fundamental research and education in one or more of the thrust areas described below through multidisciplinary teambuilding, the development of fundamental research concepts, and the initiation of research and educational activities that could provide the basis for a subsequent proposal for an FMRG.

Awards in this category will provide support for up to two years at a level not to exceed $250,000 per year. FMSG proposals should describe the building of multidisciplinary research teams that will engage community stakeholders to develop new directions in Future Manufacturing. Proposals must describe innovative and creative methods to establish new research directions and demonstrate their feasibility.

A variety of activities may be proposed, including pilot research projects to obtain preliminary results to strengthen a subsequent proposal to a future solicitation, workshops, development of new partnerships, especially those involving industrial partners, benchmarking current manufacturing capabilities, especially on a global scale, and prototyping new educational activities.

Prototypes of educational activities that focus on the skilled technical workforce and involve collaborations with two-year institutions are particularly encouraged. **Future Manufacturing Networks****(FMNet)** Awards in this track will support the formation of a community and establishment of a network of multidisciplinary researchers, educators and stakeholders in one or more of the thrust areas described below.

The network will collectively advance Future Manufacturing research and education through community efforts that include exchange of ideas, development of fundamental research directions, exploration of ways to translate results from Future Manufacturing fundamental research to industrial practice, and other approaches. Each of these awards will provide up to five years of support at a total amount of $500,000.

FMNet proposals should describe how groups of investigators will communicate and coordinate research, education, workforce development, and translation of research to manufacturing practice across disciplinary, institutional, organizational and geographical boundaries. Proposals should not include the development or conduct of individual research projects or activities to enhance existing collaborations.

Instead, they should describe how the FM Network will stimulate growth of a research and education community around Future Manufacturing and will promote new collaborations to communicate and share information, experiences, and novel ideas that will support the Future Manufacturing enterprise in research, education and community engagement. The inclusion of new researchers, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates is encouraged.

Partnerships with faculty at two-year institutions to plan for and educate the skilled technical workforce are especially encouraged.

The network can enable Future Manufacturing program and project information sharing and coordination, facilitate technical discussions and meetings on current and emerging topics, support annual Future Manufacturing grantee meetings, develop long-range community research roadmaps, engage in broad community outreach and education about the future of manufacturing and American competitiveness, make possible discussions on developing open interfaces and component interoperations, and/or provide community web-based curated archives.

When the proposed activity involves generation and maintenance of community information and resources such as databases or unique materials, a plan for their timely release and the mechanism of sharing beyond the membership of the FMNet must be described in the Data Management Plan, a required Supplementary Document.

FMNet proposals can include international associates as unsupported partners that advance the FMNet's goals and the NSF mission. Successful proposals in every track will reflect interdisciplinary convergence research to enable new manufacturing capabilities, innovative education and workforce development plans, and research into the benefits and challenges of new manufacturing to communities and society.

The research and educational plans proposed in all three tracks may be complementary to efforts in other programs in participating directorates, including standing programs. However, this solicitation provides the level of support required to form multidisciplinary teams and pursue the convergence approaches required to address fundamental research and educational challenges of enabling Future Manufacturing.

International collaborations in all three tracks of Future Manufacturing are welcome, and proposers may take advantage of opportunities provided by existing NSF programs that promote international collaborations; NSF funds should be used to support only U. S. -based participants in any international collaboration.

New materials and new processes may be inextricably linked in some applications of Future Manufacturing. If new materials are involved in Future Manufacturing activities, proposals must address explicitly the coupling between those new materials and new processes that will be required to produce them. Partnerships with industry, including GOALI proposals, are encouraged in proposals for all tracks.

When industrial collaborators are involved, the proposal must contain a rationale for the collaboration, an explanation of the industrial collaborators’ contributions and responsibilities to the project, and a description of how the collaboration will be managed.

The proposal must contain a letter of collaboration from each industrial organization participating in the project that specifies the tasks that the industrial partner will carry out. GOALI proposals must be prepared in accordance with the guidance provided in Chapter II. E.

4 of the PAPPG. To take advantage of potential synergies among activities supported by awards in the three tracks, a Future Manufacturing kickoff meeting will be held within three months of the award issuances. Awardees in all three tracks will present their research and educational plans, discuss community engagement and explore strategies to build research and education communities in Future Manufacturing.

Every PI and co-PI from all participating institutions are required to attend the kickoff meeting, and proposers should include costs of participating in their budgets. There will also be an annual grantees' conference for sharing of successes, challenges and future plans, and for NSF program officers to review progress.

At least one PI and one co-PI from each award will be required to attend, and all PIs and coPIs will be encouraged to participate. Proposers should include costs of participating in their budgets. This solicitation focuses on three thrust areas described below.

Proposals should address Future Manufacturing in one or more of the thrust areas. _The discussion of each thrust area is not intended to be limiting, and examples mentioned in each area are not intended to indicate any special interest on the part of NSF in the example topics. They are presented only to illustrate possible considerations in each thrust area_.

**Future Cyber Manufacturing research** Future cyber manufacturing exploits research opportunities at the intersection of computing and manufacturing with the potential to radically transform concepts of manufacturing.

It anticipates new abstractions in design and manufacturing, the availability of a data infrastructure that exploits the convergence of innovative sensors and actuators, fast and reliable secure communications, cloud and edge computing, data analytics, computational modeling, advanced controls and artificial intelligence and machine learning to increase the generality and reliability and reduce the expense of manufacturing process and system control.

Cyber and cyber-enabled technologies for manufacturing cut across the manufacturing supply chain, the system engineering life-cycle, and manufacturing control systems, wherever information technology can affect production control, facilitate integration, and influence societal acceptance and demand. Recent advances in information technologies, e. g.

, cloud, edge, and hybrid computing, wireless communications, machine learning and predictive analytics, autonomy, wireless communications, cyber-physical-human systems, the industrial internet of things, and advanced computing systems and services provide powerful incentives to rethink, reconceptualize, reinvent, and explore new possibilities for manufacturing.

While experience has demonstrated that it is possible to control most manufacturing processes, controllers typically must be tailored to fit individual processes at great expense. As a result, process control is implemented only in the production of very expensive or high-volume products.

Topics of interest include research on new generations of intelligent systems, logistics and networks for real-time secured sensing and machine learning, in-situ sensing that drives feedback loops to control process parameters, and methods for enabling the safe and secure communication and sharing of data among manufacturers, which together can provide generalizable and guaranteed execution of process plans.

Research in this thrust area may also explore real-time metrology, quality control and assurance, uncertainty quantification, risk analysis, network control methods, and new techniques for multi-objective optimization that can reduce costs, minimize disruptions, improve safety, and increase yield and purity.

Opportunities also exist for transforming and expanding the manufacturing sector by researching and deploying tools that facilitate the delivery of manufacturing as a service. Such tools can increase the access of entrepreneurs to manufacturing services, enable manufacturers to offer their services more widely and allow customization of products and processes.

Topics of interest include design language and compiler-like production capabilities for manufacturing services, methods for categorizing, indexing and searching 3D solid models to exploit the implicit design and manufacturing knowledge that is incorporated in the library of previously manufactured parts, approaches to data-driven adaptation of manufacturing processes, seamless cybersecurity across the manufacturing enterprise, and tools to generate manufacturing process plans by parametric adjustment of process plans for ‘similar’ parts.

Research in this thrust area could leverage basic understandings of evolutionary, ecological, organismal, and molecular scale processes to generate novel cyber manufacturing algorithms for Future Manufacturing systems.

This thrust area also may explore autonomous chemical and materials design, discovery and development for the acceleration of the characterization, validation, production, and optimization of high-value chemical targets and/or high-performance engineered products.

**Future Eco Manufacturing research** Research in this thrust area will enable holistic manufacturing processes that encompass the entire manufacturing lifecycle and account for energy consumption, health and environmental impact, and cost effectiveness.

Fundamental research could enable manufacturing processes that are designed from the start to produce products that either degrade naturally or on cue, or can be re-purposed into high quality products without harmful byproducts and without reliance on technologies that are potentially harmful to the environment and society at large.

Research in this thrust area could lead to new processes or synthesis of manufacturable materials, chemicals, devices and systems that enable facile and direct re-purpose, re-use, or up cycling into environmentally benign products. The goal of such research in eco manufacturing is to keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract their maximum value while in use, and recover materials at the end of their service life.

Research in this thrust area could seek biological approaches that could lead to new materials and products, new processes to valorize waste, new methods to remediate contaminants, or new catalysts to enable processes such as biomass conversion.

In every case, research outcomes in eco manufacturing will benefit from a convergence approach that integrates expertise from a variety of disciplines including chemistry, biology, materials science, engineering, and economics. Such projects could benefit from fundamental research to predict how consumers, companies and society at large will respond to more environmentally friendly options.

For example, research in this thrust area could enable new manufacturing processes that avoid plastics and polymers that pose significant challenges in recycling and disposal.

Research could enable new manufacturing that either eliminates the use of a commodity polymer such as PET, or it could enable new recycling processes that are economically favorable for commodity polymers despite their intrinsic low cost, which could make widespread use of recycled commodity polymers more economically favorable.

Research could leverage recent advances in bio/nano interfaces combined with improved understanding of how biological systems communicate on molecular to eco-scales. Such research could enable the development of highly integrated bio/nano manufacturing systems such as agromanufacturing with bio/plant-based sensors that serve as monitoring systems or virtual tracks for autonomously directing manufacturing equipment.

Research on origami-based manufacturing could revolutionize the design of new structures and materials, and provide strong and lightweight alternatives to solid concrete or steel for sustainable building. Fundamental research on materials that facilitate folding, active and programmable materials, and the structural stability of unfolded products could enable new approaches in eco manufacturing.

**Future Biomanufacturing Research** Research in this thrust area will enable production of therapeutic cells and molecules, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, polymers and fuels, as well as bio-based technologies for computing, signal processing and communication.

Fundamental research to enable new biomanufacturing will expand knowledge in biology and engineering to create products that interact effectively and seamlessly with cells, living tissues, and synthetic substrates.

The capability to fabricate at large scales interacting synthetic cells, cellular components and biological communities capable of conducting complex information processing and biofabrication processes could lead to a variety of new manufacturing industries.

Research in this thrust area should complement and leverage advances at NSF centers for manufacture of cell-based therapeutics, pharmaceuticals, living tissues for cardiac therapies, and multicellular engineering of living systems. Research in this thrust area has the potential to enable a new biomanufacturing paradigm that can benefit personalized healthcare, sustainable energy, environmental sustainability, and society.

For example, research in this thrust area could focus on the development of biofoundries to produce new cell-based and small-molecule therapeutics that can be scaled up and diversified to produce organ-on-chip devices and personalized therapeutics.

Recent advances in personalized medicine, including new manufacturing of patient-specific therapeutics, need to be expanded on multiple fronts and scaled up to make them available on demand to wider populations and to broaden the range of therapeutic constructs.

Enabling the manufacturing of these and similar constructs will require integrating knowledge from systems biology, chemistry, genomics, materials science, bioreactor engineering, and separations and purifications - all integrated in novel ways. It will also require research into how composition, structures, and properties of synthetic support materials affect cell-based processes.

Research could address challenges associated with cell-free protein manufacturing that has potential advantages over cell-based processes, including elimination of unwanted byproducts, better reproducibility, and improved stability. Research could expand and intensify platforms for cell-free manufacturing that maintains specific activity for diverse feedstocks.

The result of the research could enable cell-free manufacturing enzyme biocatalysts, biosensors, vaccines and other therapeutics. Research could seek to take advantage of advances in understanding