Construction begins for UMaine sustainability research facility

A rendering of the GEM interior. Source | University of Maine (UMaine)

The University of Maine (UMaine, Orono, U.S.) broke ground at the end of October on the Green Engineering and Materials (GEM) building, a 50,000-square-foot Factory of the Future (FoF) facility that will incorporate digital manufacturing technologies and fully adaptive, immersive learning spaces for students at UMaine and across the UMaine system. 

GEM will also serve as a large-scale digital additive and hybrid manufacturing test bed for entrepreneurs and companies looking to integrate advanced manufacturing and sustainable technologies into their operations. With a focus on bio-based materials and sustainable technologies, UMaine says that composites will be at the heart of this project. GEM will work with industry to manufacture affordable housing, marine vessel production and renewable energy and civil infrastructure components, all while using bio-based materials.

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Scheduled for completion in 2026, GEM represents a nearly $82 million investment in interdisciplinary research and innovative education. This facility has been designed to meet the research and education needs in advanced manufacturing, as well to train the engineering and computing workforce, which is essential to support and grow the state and nation’s economies. GEM will operate as a partnership between the Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC), the Maine College of Engineering and Computing (MCEC) and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), with opportunities for other programs and industries on campus and remotely.

“As a national research institution with R1 Carnegie classification, UMaine has the talent and reputation for innovation and achievement,” says Joan Ferrini-Mundy, president of UMaine and its regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias. “Once completed, GEM will create even greater opportunities for our students, faculty, staff and partners to address a multitude of economic and societal needs for Maine and beyond.”

GEM’s role is to conduct the advanced manufacturing research and workforce development training so that these new technologies can be transitioned to industry. Students at all levels, from visiting K-12 students to doctoral candidates, will experience the FoF environment through interactive, distributed and connected learning spaces.

GEM will enable students to move from interactive classroom spaces with UMaine system-wide access; to immersive learning within the mini-GEM, a microcosm of the full laboratory; up to working within the two large manufacturing bays, researching how best to design and manufacture homes, boats and other products. 

“The GEM FoF will usher in a new era of digital manufacturing, using renewable materials, at the nexus of engineering and computing. This immersive education and research facility takes the next step in large-scale flexible additive and hybrid manufacturing with the goal to produce large, integrated systems in a closed-loop digital manufacturing environment powered by high-performance computing and artificial intelligence,”adds Habib Dagher, executive director of ASCC. 

GEM is supported by several funding sources, including the Harold Alfond Foundation through UMS Transforms, UMaine, UMS, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Maine Jobs & Recovery Act, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the state of Maine and the Northern Border Regional Commission’s Catalyst Program.