President Barack Obama announced in a radio and Internet address his most recent endeavor to stimulate the job market following the economic slowdown that ultimately eliminated job openings nationwide and weakened his job approval standing with the public. Obama vowed to begin a $500 million initiative which will use technological innovations to create jobs and spur growth in clean energy and advanced manufacturing. To reach these goals, the government will join teams with universities and corporations to jumpstart the manufacturing sector, specifically targeting cutting-edge research and new technologies (Kuhnhnen). The program is called The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership and includes six universities paired with manufacturing companies like Ford, Caterpillar, Procter & Gamble, and Northrop Grumman (Murphy). .
"It's to renew the promise of American manufacturing. To help make sure America remains in this century what we were in the last - a country that makes things. A country that out-builds and out-innovates the rest of the world," Obama said of the partnership (Lee). .
"Their mission is to come up with a way to get ideas from the drawing board to the manufacturing floor to the marketplace as swiftly as possible, which will help create quality jobs, and make our businesses more competitive," Obama said in the address, which was taped at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. During his visit, Obama was inspired by mini-robots that explored water and sewer pipes (Kuhnhnen). Pittsburgh is an important city for Obama's plan to build up the middle class in America (Murphy).
The robots are the invention of RedZone Robotics, who is involved with developing advanced manufacturing techniques. "The folks at RedZone aren't just solving problems; they're working with unions to create new jobs operating the robots, and they're saving cities millions of dollars in infrastructure costs," Obama touted (Lee).
