Louisiana has cultivated a stable infrastructure for advanced
materials research and manufacturing, with significant programs at
its universities providing innovative research, as well as a
talented workforce. The state is also home to the National Center
for Advanced Manufacturing, or NCAM, which combines education,
research and manufacturing at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New
Orleans. NASA's strong presence in Louisiana gives the state a
prominent role in the aerospace and aviation industries, which are
important to private, commercial and governmental enterprises. The
Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise, or LITE, at the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, offers a comprehensive set of
advanced visualization systems including one of the world's largest
3-D visualization theaters and one of the world's first multi-user,
six-sided digital 3-D total immersive space based on CAVE™
technologies.
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana, or MEPOL,
and Center for Lean Excellence in New Orleans provide support to
manufacturers around the state. Also solidifying the state's place
at the top of the nation's advanced manufacturing industry are the
Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence and University of New
Orleans' School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, which
provide workforce training programs for manufacturers.
Advanced Materials
Advanced materials play an important role in Louisiana's
economy. The state has developed a strong academic infrastructure
for research and development in advanced materials, and a number of
significant ventures have helped to further enhance the industry in
Louisiana.
Located in New Orleans at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility, NCAM
is the result of a partnership between NASA, the state of
Louisiana, the University of New Orleans, Louisiana State
University and other universities. NCAM's purpose is to address
NASA's needs in research and technology development and to build
the technology base for manufacturing next generation launch
vehicle systems. Current activity at NCAM includes research and
applications of advanced technology processes such as friction stir
welding, advanced fiber placement and nondestructive evaluation.
NCAM, under the auspices of the UNO College of Engineering, leads a
consortium of seven universities that conduct research focused on
using composite and metallic materials in the production of
aerospace structures.
In Shreveport, the Louisiana Center for Manufacturing Sciences
is a nonprofit consortium focused on improving manufacturing
efficiencies across the defense industrial base, including
shipbuilding, munitions, parts replacement and other critical
defense functions.
LSU's Baton Rouge campus carries out diverse research projects
that focus on advanced materials for the microelectronic, MEMS and
specialty chemicals industries. Researchers use electrochemical
techniques, chemical vapor deposition and wet chemical processing
methods to deposit thin films, nanowires, nanoparticles and bulk
forms. The resulting materials can be used in a variety of
applications, such as heterogeneous catalysis, fuel cell
technology, biological and chemical sensing and magnetic
storage.
Aerospace
Work being done in Louisiana is critical to the nation's
aerospace industry. The Michoud Assembly Facility is located in New
Orleans on 832 acres, with 3.8 million square feet of total
infrastructure, including strategic highway, railway and port
access. It contains one of the largest production buildings in the
nation. Michoud is a NASA-owned facility managed by Marshall Space
Flight Center.
Michoud's mission is to support the continuing development and
operations of the NASA space shuttle program, with the external
tank for the space shuttle as its primary product.
As support for NASA's Constellation Program, NASA selected
Michoud to manufacture and assemble the Crew Launch Vehicle upper
stage, which is part of NASA's mission to develop a cost-effective,
next-generation space transportation system. The system is part of
an effort to safely and reliably take human explorers to the moon,
Mars and on into the solar system.
One of just three LIGOs, or Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatories, in the nation is located in
Livingston Parish. LIGOs are dedicated to the detection of cosmic
gravitational waves and measurement of the waves for scientific
research that yields invaluable information on the nature of the
universe. The Louisiana observatory works with two others near
Richland, Wash., as two widely separated detectors working in
unison are necessary to rule out false signals and confirm that a
gravitational wave has passed through the earth.
Aviation
Existing infrastructure, proactive state and local governments,
a skilled workforce and an agreeable climate have strengthened
Louisiana's aviation industry, making it one of the nation's
fastest-growing. Many aviation-related companies - such as Lockheed
Martin, EADS, Northrop Grumman, Air Logistics, Bristow, ERA
Helicopters and Petroleum Helicopters, Inc. - are operating in
Louisiana. The state's aviation industry has experienced
significant growth in recent years with companies like ASA Airlines
and Continental Express Airlines either relocating to Louisiana or
undergoing major expansion.
Virtually every region of the state has a strong aviation
presence. For example, aviation companies doing business in
Lafayette include MASCO; Industrial Helicopters Inc.; Omni
Aviation; Paul Fournet Air Service; Petroleum Helicopters Inc.;
Acadian Composites; Aviall Inc.; Coastal Turbines Inc.; Rotor
Blades Inc.; Arrow Aviation; Rotorcraft Technologies Inc.; and
Superior Aircraft Interiors.
Louisiana offers seven commercial service/primary airports:
Lafayette Regional Airport, Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport,
Alexandria International Airport, Monroe Regional Airport,
Shreveport Regional Airport, Lake Charles Regional Airport and
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
Lake Charles' Chennault Industrial Airpark has four aviation
companies -- Northrop Grumman, Aeroframe Services MRO, Million Air
Lake Charles and ERA Helicopters -- two of which are expanding.
Northrop Grumman will build a new 20,000-square-foot assembly and
repair building, creating 80 new jobs and retaining 217 employees.
Aeroframe will install a new tail dock, which will increase
Aeroframe's capacity for aircraft repair, adding 50 jobs and
retaining 300 employees.
Several organizations exist in Louisiana to encourage the growth
of the state's aviation industry. The Aviation Partnership of Louisiana, for example,
works to inform aviation businesses of the state's resources,
workforce and business-friendly climate. Louisiana Airport Managers
& Associates is a nonprofit formed as a statewide advocate to
promote the aviation industry, to provide proper legislation
guidance for aviation and airports, and to advise its
membership.
Louisiana continues to develop a pro-business environment where
leaders in the aviation industry want to invest, grow, work and
live. With the world-class Michoud Assembly Facility, several
airfields around the state, and academic programs focused in new
technologies, Louisiana has the resources to provide a perfect
location for any aviation business. Louisiana has a long history of
significant involvement in the aviation industry. The state was the
site of the nation's first airmail flight, which occurred April 10,
1912. And with more than a dozen technical schools offering
aviation programs in Louisiana, the industry will continue to grow
well into the future.
To learn more about Louisiana's aviation industry, click
here.
Durable Goods
Louisiana's durable goods industry employed 85,500 workers at
the end of 2008. Today, the industry is strong and will remain so
for several reasons - an exceptionally productive and well-trained
workforce, the availability of resources and a first-class
multimodal distribution system reaching across the country and
around the world.
In the 2007 Business Facilities Rankings
Report, Louisiana ranked first in "Manufacturing Momentum in
the U.S." In this category, rankings were based on which states
show the greatest promise for manufacturing going forward.
Louisiana won out based on a number of factors, but primarily the
increase in the value added to its manufacturing shipments. Since
2001, the state's advanced manufacturing industry has seen
significant growth, with over 50 advanced manufacturing
projects.
Louisiana Economic Development maintains an in-depth
understanding of the environment in which durable goods
manufacturing companies do business and has worked toward modifying
legislation in order to create or retain jobs in the durable goods
manufacturing industries.
Shipbuilding
The high skill level of Louisiana's manufacturers and workforce,
along with the state's strategic import/export location, make it
the logical site for shipbuilding activities and provide great
infrastructure for the industry.
Louisiana is manning its shipbuilding industry with homegrown
talent. The state is home to the top shipbuilding school in the
nation, UNO's School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering,
or NAME. Students are provided with real world information systems
and 3-D modeling facilities at the Avondale-UNO Maritime Technology
Center of Excellence, which functions as a research and teaching
tool for the NAME program.
UNO's Gulf Coast Region Maritime Technology Center's mission is
to help the U.S. shipbuilding industry become more competitive and
to reduce the Navy's acquisition costs. The center conducts
research in ship design and manufacturing to improve performance,
productivity and quality. In addition, the Manufacturing Extension
Partnership of Louisiana serves manufacturers by identifying
solutions to increase their profitability and productivity. Another
resource for manufacturers is the Center for Lean Excellence in New
Orleans, which assists manufacturers, as well as other private and
public entities throughout Louisiana, in applying Lean principles
to their operations.
These programs produce a highly-skilled workforce for
Louisiana's shipbuilding industry, which includes companies such as
Bollinger Shipyards; Northrop Grumman Corp.; Laborde Marine; Trico
Marine; Seacor Holdings Inc.; J. Ray McDermott; Candy Fleet Corp.;
L&M Brotrus Rental; Central Gulf Lines; and Edison Chouest
Offshore.
Ensuring the state's shipbuilders and other manufacturers always
have access to a skilled workforce is an ongoing effort of the
state and the business community. As a result, the state has many
industry-certified advanced manufacturing training opportunities,
such as high school-based shipbuilding academy, the Advanced
Manufacturing Center of Excellence, which opened in Metairie, La.,
in January 2008 with a goal of training 1,000 people in occupations
such as certified manufacturing specialist, welding, pipe fitting,
electrical, maintenance, mechanics, press process and CAD/CAM.
