Remanufacturing Center receives $3 million in additional federal funding

Congress has approved a FY 2001 Defense Appropriations bill that includes an additional $3 million to support the research activities of RIT's National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery (NCR3), part of the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies.

The funds were included in the conference report of the House and Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee thanks to the joint efforts of Sen. Charles Schumer and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter. The bill has been signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

The funding supports a major research effort with the Office of Naval Research called Modernization through Remanufacturing and Conversion. Based on the results of its initial project with RIT, ONR is looking at other opportunities to incorporate remanufacturing into its design of new ships and other systems. NCR3 conducted a detailed analysis of the remanufacturing potential of a decommissioned class of Navy ships. The findings of that analysis could save the Navy -- and taxpayers -- millions of dollars.

"RIT continues to prove that upstate New York is an important partner in meeting our military's strategic needs," says Schumer, who was instrumental in securing the funds in the Senate bill.

"I was proud to be able to obtain $3 million to help RIT continue its valuable remanufacturing work," Slaughter says. "This project is keeping both our local businesses and the environment healthy."