PROPOSAL PIPELINE
Turning ideas into competitive proposals
The CEPDAM Proposal Pipeline is a dynamic platform designed to identify, shape, and advance high-impact funding opportunities. Rather than simply sharing announcements, CEPDAM actively develops proposal concepts, builds interdisciplinary teams, and supports faculty engagement from ideation to submission.
We invite faculty, researchers, and partners to join ongoing efforts and co-develop competitive proposals aligned with national priorities in advanced manufacturing, industrial AI, robotics, and workforce development.
Current Opportunities in Development
Status: Concept Development
Focus: Critical materials, advanced manufacturing, and workforce development
- CEPDAM is developing an interdisciplinary proposal concept focused on strengthening the critical materials-to-manufacturing workforce pipeline, connecting materials development, manufacturing technologies, and workforce preparation
- Key technical and educational directions include:
- Critical materials processing and advanced manufacturing
- AI-enabled manufacturing and process optimization
- Recycling, remanufacturing, and circular manufacturing
- Supply-chain resilience and critical-material substitution
- Industry-aligned curriculum, experiential learning, and workforce training
- Emphasis on connecting materials → manufacturing → supply chain → workforce development through university–industry partnerships
Ideal for: Advanced Manufacturing, Materials Science, Industrial AI, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Engineering Education, Workforce Development
Status: Concept Development
Focus: Advanced cyberinfrastructure and AI workforce development for manufacturing
- CEPDAM is developing a collaborative CyberTraining concept focused on preparing students and researchers to use advanced computing, data, and AI infrastructure for next-generation manufacturing
- Key technical and training directions include:
- High-performance and cloud computing for manufacturing
- Industrial AI and scientific machine learning
- Digital twins and manufacturing simulation
- Large-scale manufacturing and sensor data analytics
- Edge AI, robotics, and cyber-physical systems
- Secure and reproducible manufacturing computing workflows
- Emphasis on bridging computing infrastructure → manufacturing applications → research training → workforce development
Ideal for: Industrial AI, Computer Science, Advanced Manufacturing, Robotics, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering Education
Status: Concept Development / Team Formation
Focus: AI-enabled materials discovery, manufacturing, and closed-loop experimentation
- CEPDAM is developing proposal concepts centered on integrating materials design, computation, manufacturing, sensing, and artificial intelligence within a closed-loop research framework
- Key technical directions include:
- Computational materials design and process modeling
- AI/ML for materials and manufacturing optimization
- Advanced and additive manufacturing
- Automated experimentation and robotic laboratories
- Multimodal process sensing and materials characterization
- Digital twins linking process–structure–property–performance relationships
- Emphasis on closing the loop between materials design → manufacturing → characterization → learning → redesign
Ideal for: Materials Science, Advanced Manufacturing, Industrial AI, Computational Modeling, Robotics, Mechanical Engineering
Status: Concept Development
Focus: Physical AI, intelligent robotics, and adaptive manufacturing systems
- CEPDAM is developing an interdisciplinary research concept focused on Physical AI for manufacturing systems that can perceive, reason, predict, and adapt to changing production conditions
- Key technical directions include:
- Multimodal sensing and manufacturing state estimation
- Embodied and Physical AI
- Intelligent robotic manipulation and task planning
- Adaptive manufacturing under uncertainty
- Digital twins and predictive manufacturing systems
- Safe human–AI–robot collaboration
- Resilient autonomous decision-making
- Emphasis on developing manufacturing systems that integrate sense → understand → predict → act → learn
Ideal for: Industrial AI, Robotics, Computer Science, Advanced Manufacturing, Human Factors, Systems Engineering
Status: Strategic Development / Consortium Building
Focus: Regional AI infrastructure supporting science, engineering, and advanced manufacturing
- CEPDAM is exploring a large-scale collaborative concept focused on expanding access to AI computing, data, software, expertise, and workforce capabilities for research and innovation
- Potential manufacturing-related application areas include:
- Industrial AI and intelligent manufacturing
- AI-enabled materials and process discovery
- Robotics and autonomous systems
- Digital twins and large-scale simulation
- AI for agriculture, energy, transportation, and bioengineering
- Faculty and student training in AI-enabled research
- Emphasis on building a shared regional ecosystem connecting AI infrastructure → scientific discovery → manufacturing innovation → workforce development
- Potential partners may include universities, community colleges, industry, government organizations, and regional economic-development organizations
Ideal for: AI/Data Science, Advanced Manufacturing, Materials, Robotics, HPC, Engineering Education, Workforce Development, Industry Partnerships
How to Get Involved
We encourage faculty to engage at any stage of the proposal lifecycle:
- Join an existing concept
- Contribute expertise to strengthen a proposal
- Suggest new funding opportunities or ideas
- Participate in team discussions and proposal development
What CEPDAM Provides
- Strategic identification of funding opportunities
- Concept development and positioning
- Team formation across colleges and disciplines
- Proposal coordination and development support
- Connection to industry and external partners
Why This Matters
CEPDAM serves as a platform for opportunity creation, not just resource sharing.
Through the Proposal Pipeline, we aim to:
- Increase competitiveness for large-scale funding
- Enable interdisciplinary collaboration
- Align research with national and industry priorities
- Create pathways from ideas to funded projects
Call to Action
Have an idea? Want to collaborate?
Join the CEPDAM Proposal Pipeline and help shape the next generation of high-impact research and innovation.
Contact: csnam@ncat.edu
