AAMMC aerospace tech hub earns $50 million in funding

The American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center (AAMMC), a composite aerostructures facility hub in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene region, has announced that the Testbed and Training Center will become a reality through the U.S. Department of Commerce Tech Hub award and industry commitments of more than $50 million. This funding will establish what is claimed will be a “first-of-its kind” test bed for aerospace materials in the Inland Northwest. A partnership of industry and government engineers will advance high-rate manufacturing on equipment that is larger and more capable than any existing infrastructure for advanced composites manufacturing technologies.  

Within a few years, the AAMMC Tech Hub is expected to have prototypes ready for testing and eventual high-rate production, enabling U.S. suppliers to fulfill aerospace-related orders and lessen growing reliance on outsourced technology and manufacturing.

“Our coalition looks forward to filling this building with equipment unlike any of its kind in the world, bringing our top industry and NASA engineers together under one roof, and ensuring the pipeline of aerospace talent stays in the Pacific Northwest,” a statement from the AAMMC consortium reads. “We thank Senator Cantwell and Senator Murray for their unwavering support in achieving this milestone.”

“I am pleased that the efforts of the AAMMC leadership has yielded this funding result,” says Thayne McCulloh, president of Gonzaga University. “We have been confident from the beginning that the Spokane-North Idaho Tech Hub holds tremendous potential for the development of advanced technologies, manufacturing, and production that will help meet critical demand for aerospace components. We are committed to pursuing additional funding to support educational programs and workforce development that will be essential to the success of the Tech Hub.”

This test bed and training center will reportedly develop a class of next-generation composite parts like ribs, beams, doors, bulkheads and stiffened skins in preparation for high-rate manufacturing techniques The Hub will advance these methods through TRL levels 6-9 for defense and commercial applications. 

Industry partners include aerospace manufacturers Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems, Collins Aerospace; materials suppliers including Toray Advanced Composites and Syensqo; national and federal labs including NASA, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), technical educators across the region, higher education research institutions, economic development organizations, tribal communities and more. A complete list of AAMMC members can be viewed here.

The AAMMC was officially designated as a Regional Technology Hub by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) in fall 2023.