Division of Design, Manufacture, and Industrial Innovation

Overview
The Division of Design, Manufacture, and Industrial Innovation (DMII) supports fundamental academic research in design, manufacturing, and industrial engineering. DMII also manages crosscutting industrial innovation programs that encompass major components of NSF.

Technological advances, increasing global competition, and the Internet have combined to make today's manufacturing activities increasingly integrative, such that the distinction between "manufacturing" and "service" has become blurred. The mission of the Engineering Design and Manufacture research programs is to address this rapidly changing environment; the challenge it poses to the Nation's economic well-being; the expanding opportunities of the emerging service sector; and the need for an educated technical workforce for the manufacturing and service enterprises of the future.

To address this mission, DMII identifies and supports fundamental research on issues that span the areas supported within the Engineering Directorate &mdash; from design to manufacturing to service. These areas include size scales from the "nano" environment that will drive tomorrow's manufacturing processes to the "macro" or global enterprise scale that defines the production systems of the traditional manufacturing sector and extends into the growing service sector of the future.

DMII-funded research includes an emphasis on environmentally benign manufacturing and a sustainable industrial economy, and seeks to address those fundamental issues that will deepen our understanding of the processes and systems that comprise modern design, manufacturing, and service enterprises and benefit society. The Division maintains a commitment to the integration of research and education and the education of a diverse engineering workforce that will be responsive to the needs of industrial and service enterprises.

The DMII Division's academic research programs are grouped into the following two clusters:


 * Engineering Decision Systems
 * Manufacturing Process and Equipment Systems

The former focuses on the mathematical aspects of design, service, and enterprise systems; the latter addresses the physical aspects of materials and manufacturing processes.

DMII's Industrial Innovation Programs support small business and organizational innovation research as well as programs that seek collaboration with industry. These programs are crosscutting and span all areas supported by the Engineering Directorate and many other parts of NSF.