Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced nearly $3.9 million for 13 projects designed to stimulate the use of high performance supercomputing in U.S. manufacturing. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office’s High Performance Computing for Manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) program enables innovation in U.S. manufacturing through the adoption of high performance computing (HPC) to advance applied science and technology relevant to manufacturing. HPC4Mfg aims to increase the energy efficiency of manufacturing processes, advance energy technology, and reduce energy’s impact on the environment through innovation.

The 13 new project partnerships include application of world-class computing resources and expertise of the national laboratories including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory. These projects will address key challenges in U.S. manufacturing proposed in partnership with companies and improve energy efficiency across the manufacturing industry through applied research and development of energy technologies.

Each of the 13 newly selected projects will receive up to $300,000 to support work performed by the national lab partners and allow the partners to use HPC compute cycles.

The 13 projects selected for awards are led by:

  • 7AC Technologies
  • 8 Rivers Capital
  • Applied Materials, Inc.
  • Arconic Inc.*
  • Ford Motor Company
  • General Electric Global Research Center*
  • LanzaTech
  • Samsung Semiconductor, Inc.
  • Sierra Energy
  • The Timken Company
  • United Technologies Research Corporation

*Awarded two projects

The Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) recently published a draft of its Multi-year Program Plan that identifies the technology, research and development, outreach, and crosscutting activities that AMO plans to focus on over the next five years. Some of the technical focus areas in the plan align with the high-priority, energy-related manufacturing activities that the HPC4Mfg program also aims to address.

Led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as strong partners, the HPC4Mfg program has a diverse portfolio of small and large companies, consortiums, and institutes within varying industry sectors that span the country. Established in 2015, it currently supports 28 projects that range from improved turbine blades for aircraft engines and reduced heat loss in electronics, to steel-mill energy efficiency and improved fiberglass production.