U.S. Manufacturing Capacity Crucial to Economic Competitiveness
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on China and Clean Energy Issues. SEMATECH testified on the subject of what affirmative steps the U.S. can take to improve its industrial competitiveness. Committee members expressed concern about the high level of involvement from the Chinese government in supporting clean energy manufacturing, but the efficacy of Chinese state investments were called into question, “imitating China is no way to compete with China”, said Sen. Murkowski.
Dan Holladay, Director of Advanced Technologies and Photovoltaics Programs at SEMATECH, was joined by Clyde Prestowitz, President of the Economic Strategy Institute, and Alan Wolf, Senior Counsel at McKenna Long & Aldridge, in reporting to the Committee that at the time SEMATECH was established in 1987, the United States faced similar competitive pressures from Japanese manufacturers in the semi-conductor industry as well as a comparable budget environment.
“The United States cannot cede leadership in future game-changing technologies such as nanotechnology-based products, smart materials, biopharmaceuticals, energy storage, and digital devices for ubiquitous computing. Both our economic and our national security depend on our industrial competitiveness. But, increasingly, development of leading edge products is intertwined tightly with manufacturing know how and development of production processes. Simply put, the erosion of U.S. manufacturing capacity must be reversed to preserve America’s ability to innovate,” said Holladay. This iterative model of innovation was understood by the Committee, “the ability of the U.S. to remain a leader in R&D is not going to be possible if we don’t have manufacturing capacity in these technologies”, said Sen. Bingaman.
Indeed, SEMATECH is already applying its experience to the photovoltaics, having established the Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (PVMC) to accelerate the development, commercialization, and manufacturing of next generation solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Support for this collaborative effort was shared by Mr. Holladay’s fellow witness’s testimony before the Committee.
“[I] continue to believe that these types of programs that solve common manufacturing problems by leveraging resources and sharing risks are helpful in ensuring that we leverage the power of our corporate and university R&D to help American industry, “ said. Mr. Prestowtiz in his written testimony.
Holladay testified that the Administration’s National Network of Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) could be a vehicle for replicating SEMATECH’s success.
“In our view, a SEMATECH-like model for collaboration – with the catalyst of public/private partnerships – must be part of the U.S. playbook to leverage unique U.S. advantages and innovations, and strengthen the bridge between R&D and manufacturing.“