NSF Critical Materials Crossroads Engine in the Kansas City Region

Award ID: 2532489

The significance of the Critical Materials Crossroads (CMC) project lies in addressing a national- and economic-security vulnerability: the United States reliance on foreign sources for refined materials that underpin everyday life. Critical materials enable critical goods and services, including reliable transportation, affordable energy, modern communication, and systems essential to national security. Since the late 1970s, the U.S. has steadily lost its ability to produce critical materials, and more than 90% of critical materials used in the U.S. today are imported, creating risks to economic competitiveness, defense readiness, and supply chain resilience. The CMC, a Kansas- and Missouri-driven project, seeks to develop the ecosystem necessary to onshore critical materials production capacity. Key activities focus on advancing materials processing technologies, translating innovations from the lab into viable businesses, and developing a skilled workforce to support industry. In concert with these efforts, the Engine seeks to connect innovators and existing producers with capital providers, land developers, government entities, utilities, and other partners needed to complete the ecosystem. By connecting innovation, production, and workforce capabilities within a single regional system, the project seeks to realize its objective to grow the regional economy, create high-paying jobs, and reinforce U.S. manufacturing strength. The goals of the project are to develop and demonstrate a regional ecosystem that integrates research, scaling, and production of critical materials. The CMC seeks to leverage regional transportation, natural resources, and technical expertise to support the development of domestic metal refining and advanced materials production capacity, each on the order of 100,000 tons annually. The approach advances materials and manufacturing processes from early research through pilot and demonstration stages toward pre-production operations, improving scale-up efficiency, and reducing barriers to commercialization. Advanced manufacturing methods, including continuous flow processing, in-line monitoring, and data-driven process control, are combined with materials innovation to improve consistency, efficiency, and performance. Shared facilities and coordinated access to equipment support pilot and demonstration capabilities and workforce training. The project is expected to contribute to improved approaches to scaling materials production, stronger integration between research and industry, and progress toward a more resilient U.S. materials supply chain. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Jessie Dearo