A public presentation on NIIMBL and RAPID, two USA Manufacturing Institutes in which the University of Delaware is playing key roles, will be held at 4 p.m., Friday, April 14, in the Trabant University Center Theater. All are welcome to attend.

Kelvin Lee, director of the new National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), will talk about this collaboration involving more than 150 companies, educational institutions, nonprofits and state governments, and supported by the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), to advance U.S. leadership in the development and manufacture of prescription medicines from living cells.

The biopharmaceutical category includes vaccines, cancer drugs and drugs to treat autoimmune diseases, as well as emerging medicines for cell and gene therapies. Lee is the Gore Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UD.

UD is a partner in a second manufacturing institute — Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment (RAPID) — led by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and involving more than 130 partners from industry, academia, government and nonprofits to advance clean energy manufacturing.

Dion Vlachos is leading a major node of RAPID focused on chemical catalysis and reactors, with the aim to achieve more energy efficient, lower-cost chemical manufacturing processes and technologies. Vlachos is the Allan and Myra Ferguson Chair of Chemical Engineering at UD.

NIIMBL and RAPID, announced in December 2016, are among 14 Manufacturing USA Institutes. These public-private partnerships have distinct technology focus areas, but several common goals: to enhance industrial competitiveness, increase economic growth and strengthen U.S. national security. The Manufacturing USA network is headquartered in the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce.