NSF NEO-SMART Engine in Northeast Ohio

Award ID: 2532460

This NSF Engines award to NEO-SMART (Northeast Ohio Strengthening Manufacturing for American Resilience through Technology) is of national significance for restoring U.S. leadership in advanced materials and manufacturing. Metals, polymers, and chemicals and coatings form the backbone of American industry. They are essential to aerospace, defense, energy infrastructure, transportation, manufacturing equipment, and consumer products. The nations dependence on foreign sources for these materials has created supply chain vulnerabilities that threaten national security and economic stability. Northeast Ohio possesses historically deep strengths in these sectors, with manufacturing accounting for 30 percent of regional employment across more than 7,700 establishments. The project aims to transform this concentrated industrial base into a coordinated national hub for materials innovation by integrating use-inspired research and development, technology commercialization, and workforce training. This work is positioned to establish Northeast Ohio as the leading center for advanced materials and manufacturing, creating high-quality jobs, strengthening domestic supply chains, and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers of critical materials. The region of service encompasses 18 counties in Northeast Ohio, spanning the Cleveland-Elyria, Akron, Canton-Massillon, and Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metropolitan areas, with a population of 4.3 million residents and a workforce of over two million. Ohio is a key manufacturing state supporting critical domestic supply chains, with deep regional concentration in metals, polymers, and chemicals and coatings production. The region combines advanced manufacturing facilities, leading research institutions, and established workforce training networks. Strategic access to Great Lakes shipping routes and low-cost natural gas feedstocks reinforces the regions competitive position for materials production. These assets, combined with federal and state investments such as the EDA Polymer Tech Hub, position Northeast Ohio to anchor and drive a national advanced materials and manufacturing innovation ecosystem. The technical scope of the project covers use-inspired R&D whose goals are to close critical gaps between current manufacturing capabilities and next-generation materials technologies across three interconnected materials systems metals, polymers, and chemicals and coatings. The shared scientific principles and overlapping manufacturing processes of these materials create strong opportunities for cross-system innovation. The project aims to advance research and development across the full materials life cycle, from sourcing and feedstock development through production, processing, recovery, and product durability, supported by emerging AI/ML and computational methods that accelerate materials design and life cycle assessment. 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: Michael Reksulak