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January 26, 2025 | Tom Ballard

GAME Change schedules workshop and fourth summit in Nashville

The goal is to establish TN and KY as global leaders in next-generation manufacturing and supply chain innovation for the circular economy.

The University of Kentucky (UK)-led GAME Change organization will hold a combination workshop and its fourth summit in Nashville a month from now.

Hosted by Vanderbilt University at its Student Life Center, the all-day event on February 27 will focus on advancing carbon-centric circular technologies for advanced manufacturing solutions in Kentucky and Tennessee. The acronym GAME Change stands for Generate Advanced Manufacturing Excellence for Change.

The ultimate goal is to establish the two-state region of Kentucky and Tennessee, known in the proposal as the Southeastern Commerce Corridor (SCC), as a global leader in next-generation manufacturing and supply chain innovation for the circular economy. Funding for the initiative came through a National Science Foundation “NSF Engines Development Award” that provided one million dollars.

Tennessee partners include two University of Tennessee (UT) campuses – Chattanooga and Knoxville; Vanderbilt, the host university for the latest summit; Tennessee State University; Tennessee Board of Regents; and Launch Tennessee.

The keynote address at lunch, titled “The Gen-AI Use Cases for Circular Manufacturing Maturing in Real-Time,” will be delivered by Deborah Dull, Founder of the Circular Supply Chain Network. Earlier in the morning, Dull will moderate a panel featuring:

  1. Doug Adams, Vice Dean and Executive Director, Institute of National Security at Vanderbilt; and
  2. Katie Beers, Director, Material Measurement Laboratory and Lead, Circular Economy for the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Other panels include:

  1. “Circular Economy Leadership and Supply Chain Networks for Impact” that features: (a) Fazleena Badurdeen, Professor at UK’s Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing; (b) Douglas Kent, Executive Vice President of Corporate and Strategic Alliances, Association of Supply Chain Management; and (c) Michelle Tulac, Senior Project Manager, Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
  2. “It’s Happening Here: Circular Economy Initiatives in Tennessee” that features: (a) Caglar Oskay, Professor at Vanderbilt; (b) Dayakar Penumadu, Professor at UT, Knoxville; and (c) Sophia Runau, SIMS Lifecycle Services.

 

 



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