WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama is satisfying a year-old pledge by announcing the creation of two Pentagon-led institutes that will combine public and private resources to foster manufacturing innovation.
One centre will be in Obama's hometown of Chicago; the other will be outside Detroit.
The Canton, Michigan, institute will focus on light metal manufacturing. The one in Chicago will concentrate on high-tech digital manufacturing and design.
Obama will announce the centres Tuesday at the White House.
The two institutes fulfil a promise in Obama's 2013 State of the Union speech to create three manufacturing hubs with a federal infusion of $200 million. He announced the first one in January -- an Energy Department-led project in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The institutes bring together companies, federal agencies and universities to work on technologies that can boost manufacturing.
