UH’s Advanced Manufacturing Initiative
LIVING IN OR NEAR TOP MANUFACTURING STATES IN THE UNITED STATES like California, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York has its advantages. Manufacturing stimulates capital investment, drives innovation, creates demand and employment for an educated workforce, and generates revenue to power economic growth. These areas sport large industrial complexes and factories that feed into a distribution and transportation system to deliver manufactured products locally or around the country.
The situation is quite different in Hawai‘i. The 50th state is located almost 2,500 miles from the mainland U.S., approximately 4,000 miles from Japan, with a total land mass of about 6,500 square miles across seven inhabited islands. This geographic isolation, combined with limited natural resources and land, plays a significant role in Hawai‘i’s reliance on imports for over 90 percent of its consumer goods, building materials, and petroleum products, and also come with higher costs. Hurricanes, earthquakes, the COVID-19 pandemic, port slowdowns, and other world events have shown how the state’s economy, with its main industries centered around tourism and the military, is extremely vulnerable to any supply chain disruption. However, Hawai‘i’s current vulnerabilities and a lack of a robust industrial manufacturing base to fuel workforce and economic development may one day be transformed via advanced manufacturing.
Traditional Manufacturing vs. Advanced Manufacturing
Traditional manufacturing usually refers to subtractive technologies that remove material from a solid block to obtain the net shape of the product. The process usually involves injection molding, casting or computer numerical control machining that results in a high level of precision, but typically generates a lot of waste material. The tooling machines themselves are usually large and require huge industrial spaces. They are also expensive and require large production runs to maintain cost efficiency.
On the flipside, advanced manufacturing involves the use of innovative technologies and processes to transform traditional manufacturing processes into more intelligent, efficient, and sustainable systems. This is achieved by utilizing automation, robotics, artificial intelligence, material science, and additive manufacturing (3D printing) to create products layer by layer for enhanced flexibility, broader customization, and reduced waste. Start-up costs are considerably lower, do not require a large factory to house machinery, and are cost effective for small production runs, including one-off parts.
Challenges to Maintaining Critical Infrastructure
In recent years, companies and agencies responsible for critical public infrastructure like public utilities, healthcare, transportation, and other services have felt the strain as parts for their older systems have become far more difficult to locate or are very expensive because they are no longer being mass produced. Total downtime resulting from having to search for a part and wait for its arrival can sometimes be considerable, disrupting the delivery of vital services and goods.
As U.S. influence is being challenged by China, North Korea, and Russia in the Indo-Pacific region and by geopolitical instability and conflict in the Middle East, supply chain and skilled workforce issues are also impacting Department of Defense (DOD) operations. Several of the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers have experienced delays in the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) process, at times leaving naval forces stretched to the limit in dealing with multi-region conflicts. While not as complex as a RCOH, the repair, maintenance and replenishment work on other surface combatants and submarines at forward-deployed shipyards like the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) in Hawai‘i are facing similar trends.
“As supply chains continue to face increased strain, institutions like universities or community colleges have become prime resources in advanced manufacturing,” said University of Hawai‘i (UH) Vice President of Research and Innovation Vassilis L. Syrmos. “For an island state like Hawai‘i, given our finite resources, limited manufacturing footprint and heavy dependency on imports, the onus is high for UH to work with our industry partners to help provide the cutting-edge research and a knowledge-based workforce in ‘point-of-need’ manufacturing for the benefit of both our civilian and military communities.”
Advanced Manufacturing at UH
For UH, the state’s only public system of higher learning, the initiative is about the various engineering aspects involved like design, material science, 3D printing, corrosion testing, and robotics. It is also about supporting education and workforce development to ensure that the next generation of engineers and technicians understand how to use these modern tools and machines to design and fabricate high-performance parts, manufacturing aids, and prototypes for various industries.
“A lot is going on in this space right now, and while it’s generating a lot of excitement around town, there’s also a lot of movement in different directions,” said University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UH Mānoa) College of Engineering Dean Brennon Morioka, whose college is spearheading the system-wide initiative. “That’s why it’s important that we develop a coordinated and shared vision that is centered around an ecosystem that is consistent and transferable across all stakeholders.”
Morioka is relying on four key faculty members from his mechanical engineering team to help coordinate and move the initiative forward within the college: Associate Professor Tyler Ray, Associate Professor Joseph Brown, Professor Lloyd Hihara and Professor Zachary Trimble.
Additive Manufacturing
Additive manufacturing was largely absent at UH Mānoa when Associate Professor Tyler Ray first arrived in 2019. Since then, he has championed its integration throughout all aspects of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and in the process, has established a reputation as a leader in this cutting-edge field. He has worked to weave additive manufacturing into his undergraduate courses seeking to equip students with the advanced skills, knowledge, and expertise necessary to compete and innovate on a national level. The hands-on training his courses provide include community empowerment projects, like producing Hawai‘i-specific molds for a local chocolate company, leveraging 3D printing for entrepreneurship, and specialized instruction in metal additive manufacturing to prepare students to address critical needs for local employers like PHNSY & IMF.
In the lab, the Ray Research Group is leveraging this expertise to develop sophisticated 3D printed wearable sensors with the potential for personalized remote health monitoring and new techniques to create high-capacity batteries. His lab is home to UpNano’s NanoOne Bio, one of the world’s highest resolution bioprinters, capable of printing objects 50 times smaller than a red blood cell. Currently one of only three available in the U.S., with the other two located at Harvard University and Florida State University, this instrument demonstrates UH Mānoa’s position as a rising leader in the additive manufacturing space.
“For Hawai‘i, advanced manufacturing is more than just an economic opportunity. It’s about building resilience amidst geographic isolation,” said Ray. “We’re developing ways to produce critical parts and technologies right here on island that reduce our dependence on fragile supply chains. Pioneering additive manufacturing innovation in Hawai‘i makes our communities more resilient and equips our next generation of local engineers to handle some of the biggest challenges our state and society face through training in world-class manufacturing and design.”
Material Characterization
Associate Professor Joseph Brown’s research translates new materials into resilient, real-world structures. Spanning the nano- to macro-scale, his work integrates materials characterization, mechanical design, and advanced fabrication to engineer systems that perform under demanding conditions. His group studies how materials behave — from mechanical and optical properties to how structure affects function—and applies that knowledge to create systems ranging from nanometer-thin sensors made via atomic layer deposition to large-scale aerospace assemblies like carbon fiber joints and clamps for spacecraft thermal protection tiles. A growing theme across his research is automation not just in fabrication, but also in data collection and analysis, which is at the center of his role in the Hawai‘i Institute of Materials Research (see related article). He also supports coordination of on-campus spaces, and the University’s extramural funding in the area, currently hovering around $33 million for fiscal year 2025.
“The initiative represents a major opportunity for UH and the state to not just match what others are doing, but to carve out our own unique approach using modern tools to support the particular challenges of being in a remote location,” said Brown, who also chairs the Department of Mechanical Engineering. “Proving the viability of creating advanced manufactured parts in remote locations like an isolated island, aboard a Navy ship at sea, or onboard a spacecraft on an interplanetary expedition are things that we can perfect here in Hawai‘i to take us to a new level.”
Corrosion Research
When Professor Lloyd Hihara started the Hawai‘i Corrosion Laboratory at the College over 30 years ago, his first priority was to take advantage of the state’s unique concentration of varied climatic zones and environmental conditions for his research. To do so, he set up a network of atmospheric corrosion test sites, each containing test racks, weather monitoring equipment, corrosion sensors, and a wet candle device to test atmospheric salt deposition. The sites, located in agricultural, alpine, dry, industrial, marine, rainforest, and volcanic environments around the state, continue to play a key role in the corrosion research on advanced materials, coatings, and electronics.
“Through this initiative, we are looking to expand our corrosion testing capabilities to enhance the College’s research that benefit our industry partners like the U.S. Navy,” said Hihara, who has secured millions of dollars in funding from the DOD’s Office of Naval Research, Naval Sea Systems Command, and Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) program to acquire cutting-edge technology. “We will be adding a MELD friction stirred deposition machine that will give us the ability to fabricate parts out of metal-alloy combinations not previously possible, and are looking into other automated manufacturing technologies to increase our machining and fabrication production of test samples.”
Precision Machine Design
As the College’s expert in precision machine design, industrial automation and autonomous systems, Professor Zachary Trimble is able to help his colleagues to transition basic research into applied research — making him a much sought-after collaborator by Ray, Brown, Hihara, and others.
“New or advanced manufacturing technologies often require minor or sometimes major design tweaks that enable these products to be produced in a more efficient way,” said Trimble. “I primarily see my role as helping others break away from how things used to be made and to design for new technology, which involves analyzing the design flow, functional requirements, and what is needed to make a part stronger or more effective.”
Workforce Training and Development
Technical training will also play a large role in the initiative with Honolulu Community College (Honolulu CC), known for its program strengths in industrial training, including an apprentice program with PHNSY & IMF, leading the charge. Through funding from IBAS and with support from the Military Affairs Council, Honolulu CC is currently receiving equipment, instructors and training material to start an advanced manufacturing training center for inside and outside machinists from PHNSY & IMF, and private ship repair facilities. This center is unique in that it will also train active duty members from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps to support a new joint force advanced manufacturing facility at the U.S. Army Garrison Hawai‘i’s Schofield Barracks on O‘ahu.
“Our goal is to create an advanced manufacturing ecosystem with seamless skill sets and technology that can be used throughout Hawai‘i and across different industry sectors,” said Karen Lee, chancellor of Honolulu CC. “By moving our supply chain closer, we will be better able to withstand outside pressures from global events, provide good job opportunities for our students, and form a new industrial base to strengthen our local economy.”
A Glimpse of the Future
Already in motion is UH’s Space Sciences and Engineering Initiative (SSEI), a collaboration among the UH Mānoa’s College of Engineering and Institute for Astronomy, and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo (UH Hilo) to support ground-based astronomy engineering research, development, and education. The SSEI is expected to attract millions of dollars in funding and help to expand Hawai‘i’s advanced manufacturing sector with the completion of a $30-$40 million space engineering and instrument development center at UH Hilo slated for completion in 2030.