Institute for Advanced Learning and Research
Driving Economic Transformation
Our facilities exist for one reason: to help manufacturers validate ideas quickly, compare options in a neutral environment and deploy what works in real production.
At the Center for Manufacturing Advancement (CMA) at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, each lab supports the full stack of people, process and technology so improvements do not stop at a demo but carry through to the floor.
This ISO 9001:2015‑certified environment is designed for subtractive manufacturing process development, optimization and subtractive strategies for additively manufactured and complex parts.
Manufacturers use this lab to evaluate toolpaths, fixtures and datum strategies, replicate anomalies and run controlled trials without disrupting their own production lines. The focus is practical validation, not experimentation for its own sake.
This production‑minded, ISO‑certified and NIST‑aligned lab supports dimensional verification, method development and inspection workflows that accelerate release rather than slow it.
Companies use this space to stand up , validate inspection strategies and correlate shop‑floor measurements to final inspection — without building a lab from scratch.
This connected workcell demonstrates an end‑to‑end manufacturing environment where automation, robotics, vision, networking and data flow intersect.
The lab functions as a neutral test bed for low‑risk trials, integration concepts and workforce training. Manufacturers can pressure‑test assumptions, explore interoperability and understand how automation decisions affect safety, uptime and data before committing capital.
Rapid‑launch high bays and adjacent collaboration spaces help teams stand up processes quickly while permanent footprints come online. These spaces reduce startup time, support scale‑up and keep momentum during transitions.
Additional square footage is coming online as we expand our capacity for manufacturing optimization projects.
One of the projects housed within the CMA is the U.S. Navy’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE). Led by Austal USA and supported by the CMA at IALR and several other organizations, the AM CoE develops technical data packages — or “recipes” — for using additive manufacturing to create parts needed by the Navy and its suppliers.
We listen on your floor, scope a minimal viable pilot, validate in the appropriate CMA lab and follow the solution into production with SOPs, acceptance criteria and training.
Because our facilities are integrated, manufacturers can move from machining trials to metrology validation to automation pilots without losing context or stopping their own lines to experiment.
