The Blue Sky Competition is the perfect venue to share your vision for the future of manufacturing. Submission Deadline: April 1, 2026

(SOUTHFIELD, Mich., December 9, 2025) — The search for the next breakthrough manufacturing idea is underway as SME opens submissions for the 2026 Blue Sky Competition, the signature national initiative to identify, reward, and advance the most innovative concepts in manufacturing.

"For nearly a decade, the Blue Sky Competition has nurtured some of the most radical ideas for taking American manufacturing to the next level and helped transition and scale them across industries," said SME Chief Manufacturing Officer Brett Connor. "As its name suggests, the Blue Sky Competition is about the unlimited possibilities to break new bounds to sharpen the nation's economic competitiveness and safeguard our security."

SME is the premier nonprofit building bridges to the future for the talent and technologies that are the lifeblood of American manufacturing. Now more than ever, artificial intelligence, automation, additive manufacturing, and other breakthroughs are transforming how we develop and build the things we need - from agriculture to space development. The future of manufacturing also demands a bold new generation of researchers, scientists, engineers, and educators.

Blue Sky is designed to identify transformative concepts that can translate into wider applications via funding and other partnerships with investors and government agencies.

Recent Blue Sky finalists and winners include academic and industry teams leveraging 3D bioprinting to manufacture human tissue in the operating room, designing "factories in space," and reimagining the AI-human interface to detect worker stress and fatigue to improve safety, ergonomics, and collaboration.

Winners and runners up have attracted public or private investment to develop their concepts. The "regenerative operating room of the future" that was selected in 2021 will be opening next year. The 2018 runner-up on in-space manufacturing is now advancing their technology through investments by the National Science Foundation and United States Space Force.

Once again, the Blue Sky Competition is seeking abstracts that are original, advance the future of manufacturing and demonstrate the potential for real-world impact. Submissions will be judged by a distinguished selection committee of leading technologists, thought leaders and visionaries from government, industry, and academia.

The deadline for submissions is April 1, 2026. Finalists will be announced at SME's North American Manufacturing Research Conference, hosted by Penn State University, from June 14 to 18, 2026.?The overall winner will be announced later in 2026.

The winner will receive the David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award, honoring the spirit of innovation of the late Professor David Dornfeld, a global leader in sustainable engineering and smart manufacturing.?

"It doesn't stop there," added Conner. "The goal of the Blue Sky Competition is to guide these concepts from the lab to the farm, or the factory floor and beyond. We are grateful to our Blue Sky partners, including the National Science Foundation, for their steadfast commitment to lifting the best minds and brightest ideas to propel American manufacturing forward."

About SME
Established in 1932 as a nonprofit organization, SME represents the entire North American manufacturing industry, including manufacturers, academia, professionals, students, and the communities in which they operate. We believe manufacturing holds the key to economic growth and prosperity, and champion the industry's potential as a diverse, thriving, and valued ecosystem. SME accelerates new technology adoption and builds North America's talent and capabilities to advance manufacturing and drive competitiveness, resiliency, and national security. SME designs new ways to understand and solve problems, and our solutions advance the next wave of growth in manufacturing. Learn more at?SME.org.