The Obama Administration’s Materials Genome Initiative (MGI), launched to cut the time needed to develop materials for advanced manufacturing in half, today announced several commitments, including a partnership with the University of Wisconsin.

“The Materials Genome Initiative is catalyzing important collaborative advances from industry, academia, and the Federal Government, so that together we can secure the nation’s future as a leader in this critical technological domain,” Dr. Cyrus Wadia, Assistant Director for Clean Energy and Materials R&D in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a statement.

UW is pledging $5 million toward creating a cross-disciplinary technological hub called Wisconsin Materials Innovation Institute (WIMII) through the College of Engineering. WIMII will give infrastructure for the materials community.

President Obama launched the MGI exactly two years ago. According to the organization, accelerating the development of new high-tech materials promises to revolutionize domestic manufacturing while addressing a broad range of national goals in such diverse domains as energy, health, transportation, food and agriculture, and national defense.