Q: Who is charged with the administration of NAMII?
A: As a public-private partnership, NAMII employs a shared leadership model between industry and government.
NAMII is operated as a program administered by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) with the support of NCDMM staff and its established procedures and capabilities. The program was awarded to NCDMM through a cooperative agreement between NCDMM and the U.S. Government.
The Government also has a multi-agency Technical Advisory Board in place within NAMII, which is led by the Cooperative Agreement (CA) Technical Program Manager to advise on technical direction. Additionally, NAMII also has an Executive Committee and Governance Board composed of Full and Lead NAMII members.
For more information about NAMII’s leadership model, visit the Leadership page.
Q: Who can become a NAMII member?
A: NAMII membership is open to all U.S. industrial organizations, academic institutions, non-profit agencies, federally-funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) and governmental agencies interested in furthering additive manufacturing (AM) technology and education.
A member shall join NAMII with the intention of remaining an active, dues-paying member for a term of at least three years.
Q: What are the various levels of NAMII membership?
A: There are three tiers of NAMII membership with different investments and corresponding benefits. Memberships range from the starting Supporting Membership tier to the mid-tier, Full Membership, and the top tier, Lead Membership. At each tier, membership benefits increase as collaboration opportunities and access to the NAMII facility and infrastructure grows.
All membership levels include complimentary access to all NAMII-managed technical conferences and workshops; fee discount for workforce training courses; annual sponsorship of a graduate intern; and participation in all NAMII poster sessions .
While non-members may also use NAMII labs on a fee-for-service basis after being certified on the equipment, NAMII members, however, do receive priority scheduling for lab time and resources allocation.
For more details on each membership level, visit the Become a Member page.
Q: How does my organization become a member?
A: Those organizations interested in becoming a NAMII member should review the Become a Member page and request a Membership Application by completing the Membership Request Form.
A Membership Application will then be mailed to you to complete and return to NAMII. Upon its review and acceptance by NAMII, a formal Membership Agreement will be forwarded to you to complete, sign, and return to NAMII.
Membership benefits are in effect when the agreement is fully executed and membership fees have been received. Membership fees are non-refundable.
Q: Does my membership assure a place on the NAMII Governance Board?
A: Current Lead and Full NAMII members will comprise the 2012-2013 NAMII Governance Board. Lead and Full NAMII members who join after October 14, 2012 will be eligible to nominate an individual from their organization to serve on the 2013-2014 NAMII Governance Board.
Q: When can my organization become a member?
A: Applications for new members are accepted anytime.
Q: Are there any restrictions to membership?
A: To become a member, your organization must be a U.S.-based industrial organization, academic institution, non-profit organization, federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) and/or governmental agency interested in furthering additive manufacturing technology and education.
Q: My organization is not U.S. based, can we still become members of NAMII?
A: No. As NAMII was founded to help revitalize American manufacturing and encourage companies to invest in the United States, membership in NAMII is limited to U.S.-based industrial organizations, academic institutions, and/or governmental agencies at this time. However, procedures are being considered by NAMII leadership and stakeholders to potentially allow for such involvement in special cases when it meets the NAMII mission.
Q: Who owns Intellectual Property (IP) that might result from NAMII projects?
A: Rights for intellectual property vary with funding sources and membership levels. NAMII exists to advance technology and processes through intensive and open collaboration. In this vein, projects utilizing NAMII federal or membership funds will provide safe harbor for collaboration on research and royalty free non-exclusive rights for commercial development for all NAMII IP. Self-funded applied research projects may retain exclusive rights for IP developed from the project.
For more information, on IP, including the use of IP in project development, send your request to namii.info@ncdmm.org.
Q: Will research results from NAMII projects be published or presented?
A: Yes. NAMII and its members agree and expect that results of NAMII projects shall be published or otherwise made publicly available and shall be permitted to present at symposia and/or national or regional professional meetings and to publish in journals, theses or dissertations or by other means of their choosing provided that nothing will be done which could bar the availability of patent protection with respect to a member or NAMII invention. More information about the publication of research results is detailed in the NAMII Membership Agreement.
Q: How can my organization use the NAMII facility?
A: NAMII is accessible to organizations that have been successfully certified to use the equipment at the institute. However, NAMII members (Full, Lead, & Supporting) take precedence in scheduling and resource allocation. To learn more about memberships, visit the Become a Member page. For additional information about the equipment certification process please send your request to namii.info@ncdmm.org.
Q: How does the project cost-share work?
A: NAMII was created to support projects that spur industry collaboration and advance additive manufacturing technology and processes. Projects submitted for consideration to NAMII should include some cost share from the submitting organization. Cost share represents a commitment from the submitting organization and a demonstration of willingness to share risk.
Cost share is the portion of project costs, required to complete the project that are not paid/funded by the Government-funded portion of NAMII. All projects within NAMII should have 50/50 cost share. This includes all contributions, including cash and in-kind, that a recipient makes to a project. Only acceptable costs qualify as cost share, but may include staff time, equipment, or other resources, and must conform to other necessary and reasonable provisions. For more information on acceptable cost share please see the NAMII Project and Membership Cost Share Guidelines.
Q: How can my school/organization request a tour of the NAMII facility?
A: If your school/organization would like to request a tour, please complete the Tour Request Form and return the completed form to namii.info@ncdmm.org.
Q: How can my school/organization get a member of the NAMII team to speak at an upcoming event?
A: If your school/organization has a special request for a member of the NAMII team to speak at an upcoming event, please complete the Speaker Request Form and return the completed form to namii.info@ncdmm.org.
