At Your Service… From the Desk of LIFT Interim Executive Director Chris Conrardy

It’s an exciting time at LIFT.  Last Month LIFT entered the fifth year of the Department of Defense cooperative agreement that established the institute.  As one of the first Manufacturing USA institutes, LIFT seeks to set the standard for institute customer service, impact, and sustainability.  To achieve this goal, LIFT is reinventing itself.  As we prepare for the next phase of operation, LIFT will adhere to three guiding principles: be true to our lightweight metals innovation and education mission, continue as a public private partnership, and focus on delivering value for our members and partners.

We have spent considerable time talking to our members and partners about what they would like to see from the institute going forward.  One thing has become clear through those conversations – LIFT means different things to different stakeholders.

For some, it is access to the “industrial commons” equipment and expertise of LIFT and our network partners. For others, it is the opportunity to de-risk precompetitive technology investments through collaborative R&D. Some stakeholders highly value the opportunities for networking and collaborative roadmap development with industry, government, and academia.  And leveraging LIFT’s education and workforce (E&W) programs for talent development is top of mind for many.

To address these diverse needs, LIFT is developing a range of new service offerings, updating the industrial membership model, refreshing network partner relationships, expanding best-in-class technical capabilities, and scaling E&W programs.   We are also engaging government stakeholders to ensure continuity of the public-private-partnership.  As we implement these improvements, we are focused on delivering superior value for stakeholders to position the organization for growth in the decades to come.

If you are a member or partner, we look forward to going over these new directions with you and getting your input. If you are not yet a member, we encourage you to learn about the value LIFT can deliver and consider becoming a LIFT member.

So please, let us know what you’d like to see as part of the future of LIFT by sending us an email at communciations@lift.technology.

And stay tuned to our website and our newsletters for our products and services as we roll them out.

Take a Virtual Tour of the LIFT High Bay

If you have not had the opportunity to visit our Detroit headquarters and tour our high-bay facility, I would encourage you to do so. However, if you simply cannot make it to Detroit in the near future, we have a virtual, 360-degree tour available for you right on our website, thanks to LIFT Gold Member Comau.

Just click here and then click on the “Let’s Go!” button to look around our facility and see the equipment we have to serve all of your lightweighting needs.