Metals-based Additive Manufacturing Grant Program | 2020 NIST MBAMGP 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for 2020 NIST MBAMGP 01

The Metals-based Additive Manufacturing Grant Program is a discretionary funding opportunity run by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to support measurement science and related research that helps remove major obstacles to broad adoption of metals-based additive manufacturing (metal AM). The program is focused on practical, technically grounded work that improves how metal AM is measured, characterized, monitored, controlled, and qualified, with the larger goal of making metal AM processes more reliable, repeatable, and scalable for real-world production.

At its core, the opportunity targets research that strengthens the measurement and standards foundation needed for consistent metal AM performance. NIST is looking for projects that tackle issues such as feedstock characterization (for example, understanding and measuring powder properties and how they affect build outcomes), machine and process characterization (how machine settings and physical behavior translate into part quality), and real-time process monitoring and control (sensing what is happening during a build and using that information to stabilize or correct the process). Another major emphasis is improving process optimization and throughput, meaning methods that help increase build efficiency without sacrificing quality, as well as approaches that enable faster learning cycles and more confident parameter selection.

A key priority area is rapid qualification methodologies for both processes and parts. This includes research that enables quicker, more credible pathways to qualify parts by characterizing and linking measurable attributes like surface quality, geometric accuracy, and material properties to performance expectations. In addition, the program explicitly calls out model-based approaches and the computational requirements for systems integration, signaling interest in projects that connect experiments, measurements, and predictive models in ways that can be adopted across equipment, materials, and production environments. In practice, this can include integrated modeling and data approaches that help translate sensor signals and process parameters into predictions of defect formation, microstructure evolution, dimensional outcomes, or mechanical behavior, along with the computing and data infrastructure needed to make those approaches usable.

Funding is provided through a cooperative agreement, which typically means NIST expects an active partnership role during the project rather than a fully hands-off grant. The funding opportunity is identified as "2020 NIST MBAMGP 01" under CFDA 11.609, within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development activity category. The notice was created on June 8, 2020, with an original closing date of August 6, 2020. The source information provided does not list an award ceiling or the number of expected awards.

Eligibility is broadly open to non-Federal entities. This includes accredited institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations incorporated in the United States, as well as state, local, territorial, and Indian tribal governments. It also allows foreign public entities and foreign organizations to apply. The notice explicitly excludes individuals and unincorporated sole proprietors because they are not considered non-Federal entities under the terms of the announcement. While Federal entities cannot receive funding under this program, they are allowed to participate as unfunded collaborators, which can be useful for applicants who want to work with Federal laboratories or other Federal partners on a collaborative research plan without routing award funds to them.

• The National Institute of Standards and Technology in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Metals-based Additive Manufacturing Grant Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.609.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2020-06-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2020-08-06. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for 2020 NIST MBAMGP 01

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