A team based at the University of Missouri-Kansas City has won a $160 million grant from the National Science Foundation to build an “critical materials ecosystem” in the U.S.
A coalition of 13 colleges and universities across Kansas and Missouri, with help from three other schools outside the region, are on a mission to create a domestic supply chain of materials for modern necessities like batteries, medical devices and aircraft engine parts. The goal is to reduce dependence on other countries, particularly China.
Tony Caruso, executive director of the Critical Materials Crossroads Engine, said the U.S. is “90% dependent on foreign sources” of critical materials, and “85% of that 90% comes from the People’s Republic of China.”
This reliance, Caruso says, is a national security problem.
“The gallium that goes into gallium nitride, that goes into the amplifiers that are used in this radio station to broadcast the signal, they (China) know that that's critical and important for defense missions, and they've restricted that,” Caruso told KCUR’s Up To Date.
Caruso wants Kansas City to “stand as a blueprint for the rest of the nation,” and he believes the region is well-suited for large-scale production because of its ties to mining and its river and rail capacity.
- Tony Caruso, UMKC vice chancellor for strategic initiatives, founder of Critical Materials Crossroads Engine
