Advanced Manufacturing and Materials

East Tennessee has long been recognized as a region of people who know how to make things.  Advanced manufacturing has maximized this attribute for decades, tapping and enriching a diverse skill set that includes the most advanced technologies.

  • One of five federally designated innovation hubs focused on advanced manufacturing 
  • Home to the
    • 3D Manufacturing Demonstration Facility
      • With industry and world-leading capabilities in materials development, characterization, and processing, ORNL is creating an unmatched environment for breakthroughs in both metal and polymer additive manufacturing, or 3D printing.
    • Carbon Fiber Technology Facility
      • The CFTF offers a highly flexible, highly instrumented carbon fiber line for demonstrating advanced technology scalability and producing market-development volumes of prototypical carbon fibers.
    • Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing
      • The institute’s HQ is located in a 140,000-square-foot mixed-use facility on the Research Park at Cherokee Farm. This research facility represents one of the world’s premier centers for advanced materials research.
  • Highly skilled and experienced manufacturing workforce 
  • Excellent training resources 
  • Region trisected by I-40, I-75, I-81 
  • Competitive, reliable electric power