Interested in learning more about wide bandgap semiconductors?
As a National Network Innovation Initiative Institute, PowerAmerica is leading the Energy Department’s new manufacturing innovation institute for the next generation of power electronics, which is working to drive down the costs of and build America’s manufacturing leadership in wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor-based power electronics. PowerAmerica is also establishing a comprehensive education and workforce development program to create a pipeline of talent ready to support this industry sectors needs.
The goal of the Education and Workforce Training program is to partner with next generation leaders to ensure a workforce with critical skills in wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor power electronics. Educational and workforce training programs are coordinated with and informed by industry, universities, community colleges and K-12 schools. We are working together to prepare the next generation for innovations in power electronics.
US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Education Homepage, includes information about clean energy jobs and career planning as well as energy literacy and competitions.
Media:
App – “How to Make Electricity” – by Crayon Box
Geared at ages 6-8 this app lets students explore Battery Power, Hydroelectric Generator, Thermal Power Generator and Solar Panels.
Duke Energy 2050 Vision Challenge – Try to meet the energy demand of 2050 and reduce Duke Energy’s carbon footprint, online game.
The National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) is an initiative focused on coordinating public and private investment in emerging advanced manufacturing technologies. NNMI brings together industry, academia, and government partners to leverage existing resources, collaborate, and co-invest to advance manufacturing innovation and accelerate commercialization.
NNMI creates a competitive, effective, and sustainable research-to-manufacturing infrastructure for U.S. industry and academia. The network consists of multiple linked Institutes for Manufacturing Innovation with common goals but unique technological concentrations.
Each institute accelerates U.S. advanced manufacturing by catalyzing the development of new technologies, educational competencies, production processes, and products via shared contributions from the public and private sectors and academia.
The institutes provide shared facilities to local start-ups and small manufacturers to help them scale up new technologies, accelerate technology transfer to the marketplace, and facilitate the adoption of innovation developments across supply chains. Each institute acts as a ‘teaching factory’ to build workforce skills at multiple levels and to strengthen business capabilities in large and small companies.
Individual institutes serve as technology hubs, benefitting both regional and national interests. By bridging the gap between applied research and product development with a focus on key technology areas, the institutes encourage even further investment and production in their region and across the United States.
As nodes in the NNMI, the institutes complement each other’s capabilities and benefit from shared approaches to matters such as intellectual property, contract research, and performance metrics. While the institutes each carry a particular regional focus, the network is truly national, integrated, and dynamic, aiming to foster innovation and deliver new capabilities that can stimulate the U.S. manufacturing sector on a large scale.