WASHINGTON – President Obama has announced focus areas for the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation.

Next Generation Power Electronics Manufacturing, Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation, and Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing are the focus areas for the first three manufacturing institutes, led by the US Department of Defense and the US Department of Energy.

NNMI is a program aimed at leveraging the assets of particular regions across the country, while bringing together companies, universities, community colleges, national laboratories and government to partner and co-invest in the development of manufacturing technologies.

The President’s proposed plan calls for 15 linked, regional manufacturing clusters across the US.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of the recent launch of a multi-year partnership between the Council on Competitiveness and the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The partnership is part of EERE's Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, focused on increasing US competitiveness in the production of clean energy products and strengthening US manufacturing competitiveness by increasing energy productivity.

The AEMC Partnership will launch an energy and manufacturing summit at the end of 2013.