The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, or ARM, Institute today announced that it has opened an office in St Petersburg, Fla. Since its formation in 2017, the ARM Institute has been based in Pittsburgh. The new office is in the Tampa Bay Innovation Center.
“Florida was the logical choice for the ARM Institute’s second location,” stated Suzy Teele, chief strategy officer of the ARM Institute. “There are over 13,000 manufacturing organizations in critical industry sectors such as aerospace, electronics, defense, apparel, and food production that can greatly benefit from advanced automation.”
The ARM Institute is one of nine Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MII) funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. It said its mission is to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers of all sizes. The institute also supports programs to train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen the U.S. economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience.
Florida becoming an innovation hub
The ARM Institute said a key focus of its new Florida office will be to maximize investments made over the past five years in robotics, AI, and workforce development.
“Florida is also widely recognized as a fast-growing state for technology and innovation,” Teele noted. “These facts, along with our active Florida-based projects with member organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, and AmSkills, among others, convinced us that we could further our regional support and execute our mission on a significant level by opening an office in this region.”
“Over the past several years, our institute has brought about $13 million in both technology and workforce projects to the region, with funding from the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, and the Department of Labor,” said Arnie Kravitz, chief innovation officer of the ARM Institute. “Twenty percent of the ARM Institute’s consortium membership is in the region, and we expect that number to grow.”
About the ARM Institute
The ARM Institute has more than 360 members and partners across industry, academia, and government.
“We have the technology and wisdom needed to strengthen manufacturing by leveraging what robots and humans do best,” Teele said. “Our goal is to expand the work we are currently doing with regional manufacturers, universities, entrepreneurs, and economic development organizations, as well as new partners, to pioneer a better and more equally just advanced manufacturing model for the nation.”
The ARM Institute is a public-private partnership and part of the Manufacturing USA network. The Office of the Secretary of Defense launched it under Agreement No. W911NF-17-3-0004. Federal agencies continue to provide financial support to the institute, which also relies on state and local agencies and membership dues.
The ARM Institute claimed that it “is leading the way to a future where people and robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products.”
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