Washington, DC - On Thursday, the Energy Department announced the new Build4Scale Manufacturing Training for Cleantech Entrepreneurs at the 2016 MForesight National Summit in Washington, D.C.
Build4Scale helps entrepreneurs build their clean energy products by providing training on manufacturing fundamentals like material selection, design for assembly, and working with production partners. Ultimately, training entrepreneurs on the fundamentals of manufacturing will help bring promising energy solutions to market. The announcement, made by Acting Assistant Secretary David Friedman of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), emphasized the critical link between U.S. leadership in manufacturing and the ongoing transition to achieve a clean energy economy.
The training program will help cleantech entrepreneurs identify manufacturing challenges early in the development process. When these challenges are better understood and easier to navigate it can save time and capital for clean technology startups, making them more attractive to industry partners and investors. Friedman highlighted the pivotal role American cleantech entrepreneurs can play in the ongoing energy transition, and the complex manufacturing challenges they face turning an invention into a physical product that sells in the marketplace.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is leading the development of the Build4Scale training program, and will collaborate with more than a dozen partners to develop the curriculum, including the Centers for Applied Competitive Technologies, the California Network for Manufacturing Innovation, Texas A&M University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and Manufacturing Extension Partnerships and startup incubators in California and Massachusetts.
Through the Build4Scale training, core manufacturing knowledge will be packaged and delivered to entrepreneurs across the country, ultimately delivering greater return on our research and development investment and helping build more manufacturing capacity in the United States.
The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality.
Build4Scale is a joint effort between DOE’s Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI) and EERE's Technology-to-Market Program. Together through the Build4Scale initiative, these programs aim to increase U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing clean energy technologies and bring innovative technologies to market. For more information, visit the Build4Scale website.
