LIFT
LIFT research center, Detroit

LIFT Extends Advanced Manufacturing, R&D Program

Nov. 13, 2019
Industrial research and development center recommitted to its Detroit site, through 2025

The Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) industrial research program has extended its lease at the 100,000-sq.ft. operation in Detroit where it has operated since 2015. LIFT is operated by the American Lightweight Materials Manufacturing Innovation Institute (ALMMII), and has drawn more than $100 million of federal support and matching industry funding to support its research into materials and manufacturing technologies with a focus on the transportation sector.

LIFT is structured to conduct research according to several "technology pillars," one of which is thermo-mechanical processing (TMP). Specifically, this describes advanced metal processing using heat and deformation to form parts, as in forging. Among the research LIFT has conducted have been “Processing for Assured Properties in Al-Li Forgings by Development, Application and Validation of a Localized Physics-Based Visco-plastic Model"; and "Integration of ICME with Legacy and Novel TMP Processing for Assured Properties in Large Titanium Structures".

LIFT was established in 2014 by the U.S. Department of Defense in collaboration with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), University of Michigan, The Ohio State University, and EWI, and started at its current location in 2015. It will remain there until February 2025, at least, it said.

Since 2015, LIFT has hosted numerous meetings and events, and more than 4,700 visitors over the past year.

Originally chartered under a five-year agreement through the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and managed through the Office of Naval Research (ONR), LIFT has had more than $100 million of federal support, and matched this dollar-for-dollar with industry funding to support its national mandate.