White House Announces ‘Flexible Hybrid Electronics’ Manufacturing Hub

Silicon Valley will be home to the seventh manufacturing institute, focusing on wearable devices.

The White House announced the seventh manufacturing innovation hub on Friday.

The newest institute will find its home in Silicon Valley, San Jose specifically. The FlexTech Alliance will focus on innovation in flexible hybrid electronics and brings together 162 companies (think: Apple and Boeing), universities, and non-profits. This is fifth manufacturing institute led by the Department of Defense.

But wait, what exactly are ‘flexible hybrid electronics?’  

“Flexible hybrid electronics have the power to unleash wearable devices to improve medical health monitoring and personal fitness; soft robotics to care for the elderly or assist wounded soldiers; and light weight sensors embedded into the very trellises and fibers of roads, bridges, and, and other structures across the globe,” the White House said.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing has long applauded the Obama administration for its efforts to support American manufacturing.

It is vitally important for the government to invest time and resources in research and innovation. We’ve seen the success of the first such institute, AmericaMakes in Youngstown, Ohio. But manufacturing institutes are only one part of the equation.

These institutes are designed to jump start the next big wave of U.S. manufacturing. That means that products invented here are also made here by American workers.