UTEP, an 111 university, is a significant contributor to our nation's aerospace, defense and advanced manufacturing workforce. The Aerospace Center and the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation are national leaders in developing industry-ready, diverse talent. Graduates from these Centers are highly sought after because of their hands-on experience, even as undergraduates, in research labs designing, building and testing. Currently, 85% of students working in the Centers are Hispanic and 32% are women, making the Centers an important partner in tapping new talent for our nation's STEM workforce.

Together, these Centers are leveraging their research preeminence and expertise in cutting edge technologies to support the growth of El Paso's manufacturing sector into aerospace and defense markets.

The Aerospace Center (cSETR) is a NASA supported center of excellence in aerospace and exploration. The Aerospace Center supports NASA's Artemis program and Moon to Vars vision by focusing on strategic capabilities in propulsion and robotic lander, lunar surface exploration, and small spacecraft technologies. The Aerospace Center Aeronautics and Defense Division supports the research and development of unmanned aerial systems, missile systems, and hypersonic technologies. The Aerospace Center Energy Engineering Division provides capabilities in sub-pilot scale to commercial scale fossil and nuclear energy technology development; prototype to commercial product demonstration as well as test and evaluation.

The Aerospace Center has developed significant research and test facilities. The Center has more than 40,000 square feet of laboratory facilities, a 400-acre test area, and two research airfields (manned and unmanned) with runways and radar systems. The Center partners with industry to use these assets for economic development and workforce development in the region.

volt.utep.edu/csetr

Established in 2000, the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation (Keck Center) is arguably the best equipped academic laboratory focusing on additive manufacturing (AM) in the world. The Keck Center houses more than 75 AM systems with powder-based metal fabrication capabilities unparalleled at any university along with multiple UTEP-developed custom hybrid polymer AM systems used, in part, for fabricating unique 3D electronic structures. The Keck Center boasts combined facilities for AM (metal, polymer, ceramic, electronics, and large-area), subtractive manufacturing, CAD and simulation, reverse engineering, metrology, materials characterization, mechanical testing, post-processing, synthetic and analytical chemistry, and cell culture.

The Keck Center has leveraged its 21 years of AM research and education history and its deep partnership with the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) to develop Driving Research Innovation and Value through Education in Additive Manufacturing (DRIVEAM), a training program for active duty, transitioning soldiers, and DoD personnel. DRIVE AM includes three levels of proficiency (AM Foundation, AM Specialty, and AM Authority) to educate not only the fundamentals and current-state-of-the-art in AM, but also encompass emerging AM technologies and technology-specific deep learning to enable AM viability recognition when considering complex interactions between materials, processes, performance, and cost. In addition, DRIVE AM includes a STEM K-PhD pipeline program to sustain workforce needs as well as an additive manufacturing business creation ecosystem to supportthe defense supply chain. The DRIVE AM team is also working with existing additive manufacturing companies and the defense supply chain to help keep up with emerging technology, maintain economic competitiveness, and expand the technical workforce.

keck.utep.edu

Since 1899, the El Paso Chamber has been transforming business and improving lives across El Paso. As the largest business organization in El Paso, the Chamber fosters, strengthens, and elevates local business through connecting, coaching, advocating, and innovating. The Chamber's 1,400+ members come from all different industries and include businesses of all sizes.

The Chamber seeks to create synergies between the research at the Aerospace Center, the additive manufacturing work at the Keck Center, and the capacity work that the Chamber brings to make the region more competitive. Specifically, the Chamber assists businesses with training, certifications; insight; public policy; the ability to convene our community; back-office support; regional strategy alignment; and communications.

www.elpaso.org