The PCAST report is a product of its Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee, whose membership includes leading manufacturing experts from industry and academia.

“Research universities play a critical role in helping to ensure that more young people are aware of and prepared for careers in science and engineering, and in partnering with industry and government to move innovations quickly to the manufacturing floor,” said G. P. “Bud” Peterson, president of Georgia Tech and AMP steering committee member. “We look forward to even greater collaboration as we work to strengthen America’s economy and create jobs.”

The report details the unique role that manufacturing plays in the broader U.S. economy – as a direct source of jobs, as a spur to additional jobs across the economy, and as an important force for addressing the nation’s trade deficit.

Most importantly, the report reveals that the nation’s continued strength in innovation depends on sustaining a close, two-way connection between the innovation and manufacturing processes.

“Proximity to the manufacturing process creates innovation spillovers across firms and industries, leading to the ideas and capabilities that support the next generation of products and processes,” the report notes. “In this way, a vibrant manufacturing sector is inextricably linked to our capacity as a nation to innovate.”