{"315671":{"#nid":"315671","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Receives $2 Million Grant from Walmart and The Walmart Foundation","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA collaborative led by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology was awarded a Walmart U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund from Walmart, the Walmart Foundation and the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM). The announcement came at the 2014 U.S. Manufacturing Summit in Denver, where a total of seven leading research and development institutions were awarded $4 million in grants to create new processes, ideas and jobs that will foster America\u2019s growing manufacturing footprint.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s collaborative will receive $2 million in funding to further develop the project \u201cCRAFTed With Pride in the USA.\u201d Researchers from Georgia Tech\u2019s CRAFT (Center for Research in Apparel Fabrication Technologies) are collaborating on an automated manufacturing process to create apparel, from blue jeans to T-shirts, without a seamstress. The innovative technology plan is to use robotics, high-speed machine vision systems and materials-handling machines to create garments of a higher quality and at a lower cost than what is currently realized through offshore manufacturing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis innovative process automates the refined skills of a seamstress \u2013 visual quality control, handling of material and sewing. The technology in the team\u2019s proposal exists now as a laboratory prototype that can automatically complete a basic set of sewing functions with a high degree of accuracy. Ultimately, bringing this kind of technology out of the lab and into the real world will give the American apparel industry a much-needed boost.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Walmart Foundation\u2019s U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund grant gives us the unique opportunity to transform the labor-intensive apparel manufacturing process into a cost-effective, automated and high-tech operation,\u201d said Georgia Tech Professor Sundaresan Jayaraman, the principal investigator on the project. \u201cIn doing so, we will fundamentally alter the landscape of today\u2019s apparel industry by neutralizing the cost advantage of low-wage countries and triggering a \u2018lost\u2019 industry\u2019s return to America. Bringing this research to life and commercializing it will open new high-tech jobs to manufacture the robots and other equipment needed to make the system work.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlong with Jayaraman, the Georgia Tech collaborative includes researchers Steve Dickerson, CTO and co-founder of SoftWear Automation Inc., developer of technologies for apparel automation and a member of Georgia Tech\u0027s Advanced Technology and Development Center (ATDC), and professor-emeritus of Georgia Tech\u2019s George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering; and Wayne Book, emeritus HUSCO\/Ramirez Professor of Fluid Power and Motion Control, also a part of Georgia Tech\u2019s mechanical engineering school.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis year\u2019s grant recipients represent the ingenuity and inventive thinking that could ultimately unlock the full potential of manufacturing in the U.S.,\u201d said Cindi Marsiglio, Walmart vice president of U.S. sourcing and manufacturing. \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled the Walmart Foundation is supporting the efforts of Georgia Tech\u2019s collaborative to transform the processes that will ultimately drive resurgence in American manufacturing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Fund, which focuses on the development of domestic manufacturing with a specific goal of advancing the production or assembly of consumer products in the U.S., will provide a total of $10 million in grants over the next five years. This year\u2019s grant recipients were selected for their ability to address two key areas that currently present barriers to increased domestic manufacturing: \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u2022 Reducing the cost of textiles manufacturing \u2013 including home textiles and apparel \u2013 in the U.S. by addressing obstacles throughout production. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u2022 Improving common manufacturing processes with broad application to many types of consumer products. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThe City of Atlanta is proud and honored to be a beneficiary of the Walmart Foundation Innovation Fund,\u0022 said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. \u0022The metropolitan Atlanta region has embraced the resurgence of American manufacturing, experiencing an 8 percent increase in manufacturing jobs in the past year alone. I believe this generous Innovation Fund grant will help enable Georgia Tech to make cutting-edge advancements that will not only make an economic impact in Atlanta, but also in cities across the United States.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Innovation Fund is another milestone in Walmart\u2019s broader commitment to help revitalize U.S.-based manufacturing.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cResearchers at many of America\u2019s best universities are hard at work on tough manufacturing challenges,\u201d said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation. \u201cWe are excited to support the development of innovative solutions, which we hope will unlock new opportunity for manufacturing in this country.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Funding will underwrite Georgia Tech\u0027s \u0022CRAFTed with Pride in the USA,\u0022 initiative"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA collaborative led by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology was awarded a Walmart U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund from Walmart, the Walmart Foundation and the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM). The announcement came at the 2014 U.S. Manufacturing Summit in Denver, where a total of seven leading research and development institutions were awarded $4 million in grants to create new processes, ideas and jobs that will foster America\u2019s growing manufacturing footprint.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A collaborative led by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology was awarded a Walmart U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund from Walmart, the Walmart Foundation and the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM)."}],"uid":"27281","created_gmt":"2014-08-14 14:14:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:56","author":"Lisa Grovenstein","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-08-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"315681":{"id":"315681","type":"image","title":"Walmart and The Walmart Foundation award Georgia Tech $2 million  grant to help spur manufacturing in the America.","body":null,"created":"1449244947","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:02:27","changed":"1475895024","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:24","alt":"Walmart and The Walmart Foundation award Georgia Tech $2 million  grant to help spur manufacturing in the America.","file":{"fid":"199929","name":"wmt_h_r_c_highres.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/wmt_h_r_c_highres_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/wmt_h_r_c_highres_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":205019,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/wmt_h_r_c_highres_0.jpg?itok=CJZcbSPT"}}},"media_ids":["315681"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4238","name":"atdc"},{"id":"99891","name":"CRAFTed"},{"id":"341","name":"innovation"},{"id":"215","name":"manufacturing"},{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"7928","name":"Walmart"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39521","name":"Robotics"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["matt.nagel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}