Georgia Tech’s Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium Announces New Board Members

Four industry leaders have been named to the new board of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium, cementing the first full year of the organization that works to build industry and research partnerships.

The Georgia Tech Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium is a membership-based organization connecting manufacturers, academia and government institutions at the university’s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility in Midtown Atlanta. Members have unique opportunities to conduct research, develop and pilot new manufacturing systems and collaborate with students and other consortium members.

Members of the consortium’s board, announced earlier this month, include:

• Chuck Boyles (vice president, Factory Automation Systems)
• Branden Kappes (founder and president, Contextualize)

Additionally, the board has formed an industry membership committee led by:

• John Flynn (vice president of sales at Endeavor 3D, serving as Industry Membership chair)
• John Arroues (vice president of marketing at TRAK Machine Tools, serving as Industry Membership co-chair)

Consortium board members assist in fostering business relationships among the organization’s members, develop short- and long-term plans to align projects with emerging industry needs, work to make connections across industries, and advocate for consortium members to ensure the organization is meeting their needs and aligning with industry trends.

“The addition of these board members to the Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium cements this organization as a premier industry-academic partnership,” said Steven Ferguson, managing director of Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (Georgia AIM). Georgia AIM, a 4-year, $65 million federal grant program, serves as a catalyst for the consortium.

The grant is supporting an expansion of the Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility into a fully formed smart manufacturing space. As the facility expands to include new manufacturing technologies, members of the Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium will be able to access and test these systems for their own manufacturing needs.

“This is an exciting time at the facility. The expansion of the manufacturing space allows us to expand research into new projects that incorporate artificial intelligence and smart technologies,” added Ferguson. “And, with our consortium board members in place, it increases our ability to serve the manufacturing community.”

Launched in 2023, the Georgia Tech Manufacturing 4.0 Consortium aims to develop and deploy manufacturing technologies and workforce development opportunities. Consortium members gain the opportunity to accelerate product development, adopt and deploy industry 4.0 technologies, train the future workforce ad become global leaders using i4.0 solutions.

For more information on memberships, research opportunities, and the smart technologies planned for Georgia Tech’s Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facilities, visit ampf.research.gatech.edu or contact Ferguson at sferguson@gatech.edu.