Somewhat clarified

We noted a couple of days back that there were news articles indicating that UCLA was getting federal funds for some kind of research program dealing with manufacturing efficiency. But at the time, there was nothing on the UCLA newsroom website about it.

Now there is something:

President Barack Obama announced a $70 million federal award Monday to a nonprofit co-founded by UCLA to create a nationwide Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute, with the goal of improving the efficiency of advanced manufacturing.

The institute will be headquartered in downtown Los Angeles in partnership with the city, led by the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition and supported by UCLA’s leadership. It will include a national network of five regional manufacturing centers funded by $70 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and more than $70 million in matching funds from many of the institute partners...

Full release at http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/nonprofit-co-founded-by-ucla-to-form-national-institute-to-improve-efficiency-in-manufacturing

Exactly how this program connects with UCLA is still not entirely clear.