In the month of June, Fraunhofer USA CESE has hosted and participated in vital meetings with the local and State governments in Maryland, along with key stakeholders in Maryland industry and academia, to continue to bolster the state’s innovation initiatives.

On June 11, 2018, the Fraunhofer USA CESE leadership met with officials in the Howard County Economic Development Authority (HCEDA) offices to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to begin collaborations across the emerging HCEDA Gateway Innovation Center. The Innovation Center aims to engage local businesses and support their efforts toward continued success, growth, and expansion as a Maryland industry resource into additional markets. Attendees included representatives from the Maryland Department of Commerce and CR International, an electronics manufacturer services company specializing in RF products. For more details on this transformative event:

https://patch.com/maryland/ellicottcity/european-companies-invest-howard-county

https://www.facebook.com/HoCoEDA/posts/1904085516290368

More recently, Fraunhofer USA CESE invited the Maryland Manufacturing Advisory Board to its College Park office on June 29, 2018, and hosted the Board’s quarterly meeting. The 3-hour event took place before attendees headed over to the Virtual and Augmented Reality Laboratory, or The Augmentarium, in the A.V. Williams building, home of our affiliate partners in the Computer Science Department at the University of Maryland at College Park. During the meeting, members discussed the relevance of Industry 4.0 initiatives to the Maryland manufacturing community and the efforts that could be undertaken to integrate this community into the digital transformation era. For information on the agenda and board members in attendance, please see:

http://commerce.maryland.gov/commerce/Documents/MMAB-meeting-agenda-06-29-18.pdf

http://commerce.maryland.gov/commerce/maryland-manufacturing-advisory-board