President Barack Obama delivers remarks following a tour of the National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa., June 24, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Three years of progress of the Materials Genome Initiative. Credit: National Science Foundation; YouTube

 

In 2011, President Obama heralded the formation of a new initiative aimed at propelling advancements in advanced materials and spurring American manufacturing.

“To help businesses discover, develop, and deploy new materials twice as fast, we’re launching what we call the Materials Genome Initiative,” he said at the time. “The invention of silicon circuits and lithium-ion batteries made computers and iPods and iPads possible—but it took years to get those technologies from the drawing boards to the marketplace. We can do it faster.”

Three years out from the launch of MGI, things are looking pretty bright. (Or is that light from all those energy-efficient LEDs?) Since MGI began in 2011, the U.S. government has pumped $250 million into advancing advanced materials. And the White House recently announced an additional $150 expansion to the initiative to maintain the momentum.

Check out the above video from NSF to hear more about the progress and future of MGI.

Want to contribute your own two cents? The government is looking for feedback on its draft for the 2014 MGI Strategic Plan. Check it out here

[Feature Image] President Obama announcing MGI at Carnegie Mellon University, circa 2011. Credit: The White House; Flickr 

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