To accommodate additional interested parties, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today announced a 30-day extension on a request seeking public comment on the proposed new Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia (AMTech) program. The comment period now ends 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011.
NIST's original Request for Information (RFI), published in the Federal Register on July 22, 2011, asked for public comments on how to structure the proposed new program, which would foster public-private research consortia focused on long-term industrial research needs in the area of advanced manufacturing.
The RFI asks interested parties to answer 23 questions about eligibility for consortia membership, selection criteria for research funds, best practices for maximizing small business participation or disseminating results, and a number of other topics.
Comments will be accepted by email only to AMtechRFC@nist.gov (subject: AMTech%20Comments). All comments will be made publicly available.
The original Federal Register notice is available at www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-07-22/pdf/2011-18580.pdf. The Federal Register notice approving the extended comment period is at www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-09-23/pdf/2011-24538.pdf. The description of the AMTech Program in NIST's fiscal year 2012 budget request (pages 250 to 254) is available at: www.osec.doc.gov/bmi/budget/12CJ/2012_NIST_&_NTIS_Cong_Budget.pdf.
For additional information, contact Barbara Lambis, (301) 975-4447, barbara.lambis@nist.gov, or Michael D. Walsh, (301) 975-5455, michael.walsh@nist.gov.
