Purdue's MMRL Celebrates National Manufacturing Day 2026 - Manufacturing and Materials Research Laboratories (MMRL) - Purdue University

For more than a century, manufacturing has been deeply woven into Purdue and Indiana’s identity as the home of the Boilermakers. Today, that legacy is being carried forward through a broad manufacturing and supply-chain ecosystem that connects engineering, materials, design, digital technologies, workforce development, and industry partnerships for Earth and in Space. At a time when manufacturing resilience and supply-chain leadership are national priorities, for Earth and Space, Purdue is positioned to make an especially consequential contribution to America’s manufacturing future.

Indiana provides a powerful setting for this work. Manufacturing accounts for approximately one-fifth of the state’s gross domestic product, making it a defining part of Indiana’s economy, workforce and innovation base. Purdue’s location at the center of this manufacturing-intensive region creates a distinctive opportunity to connect fundamental research, translational engineering, talent development and industrial deployment.

“Manufacturing is more than a sector of the economy; it is a foundation for innovation, national resilience and prosperity. As Boilermakers, Purdue has decades of tradition of making, building and translating breakthrough ideas into impact. National Manufacturing Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate that heritage while defining the next era of manufacturing and supply-chain leadership, on Earth and in Space.” Dr. Ajay P. Malshe, Executive Director, MMRL

This year’s celebration also coincides with a major MMRL expansion. With the expansion nearing completion, MMRL will offer approximately 30,000 square feet of shared physical and digital (AI) manufacturing, materials, measurements, and design research facilities serving faculty, students, industry, academia, and government. The expanded laboratories are designed to enable interdisciplinary research, rapid experimentation, technology translation and workforce development across the manufacturing innovation spectrum.

Today, MMRL is the largest shared manufacturing research facility within a 400-mile radius, providing a unique open-access environment in which researchers and external partners can work side by side. Its capabilities span advanced manufacturing, materials processing and characterization, additive and hybrid manufacturing, machining, coating, automation, digital manufacturing, design, and emerging technologies.

“MMRL represents the kind of shared research infrastructure we need to accelerate the future of manufacturing. By bringing together advanced equipment, digital and AI capabilities, faculty expertise, students, and industry partners in one collaborative environment, the expanded MMRL will enable ideas to move more rapidly from fundamental discovery to manufacturing innovation and real-world impact.” Nik Chawla, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation, College of Engineering.

The next generation of manufacturing professionals is central to this mission. Students gain hands-on experience with advanced equipment, work alongside faculty and industry experts, and contribute to research addressing real-world manufacturing and supply-chain challenges. These experiences help prepare talent capable of leading factories, laboratories, technology ventures, and industrial systems of the future.

Industry partnerships, through centers at MMRL, provide the essential bridge between discovery and deployment. Through MMRL and Purdue’s broader manufacturing ecosystem, companies can engage with faculty expertise, students, and shared research infrastructure to explore new technologies, accelerate development, de-risk innovation, and translate ideas into scalable manufacturing solutions.

National Manufacturing Day 2026 is therefore both a celebration and a call to action: to recognize the people who make, build, and innovate; to honor Purdue’s enduring Boilermaker manufacturing heritage; and to strengthen the research, talent, infrastructure, and partnerships needed for the next century of American manufacturing leadership.