President signs $1.3 trillion spending bill which supports advanced manufacturing and IACMI

Photo: Secretary of Department of Energy Rick Perry went for a spin in a 3D printed vehicle during a tour at Oak Ridge National Lab’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in May 2017. Photo Courtesy of Oak Ridge National Lab.

President Donald Trump has signed a $1.3 trillion spending deal to fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year. The new spending deal provides a record 16 percent increase in funding for the Office of Science, which Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said is the “most important federal program” supporting work at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The bill also includes $50 million more than last year for advanced manufacturing, which Alexander said is attracting companies to create new 3-D printing jobs in medical, automotive and aviation industries. $20 million of that will fund ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility and $14 million will fund ORNL and the University of Tennessee’s Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation.