The following article appeared in The Guam Daily Post:
Progress at ASTRO America’s additive manufacturing facility is fueling a broader vision among local officials and educators: transforming Guam into a regional technology center that rivals established innovation corridors like North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.
The GAMMA program is moving forward with work continuing at the manufacturing facility, according to Alex Benham, director and general manager of the Guam Additive Materials and Manufacturing Accelerator. Official announcements on progress are expected any day now.
That momentum has energized discussions about creating what Melvin Tabilas calls Guam’s “Silicon Village,” not a single facility, but an ecosystem connecting researchers, companies, entrepreneurs and end users.
“What COVID clearly reminded us is that we are too reliant on the tourism industry,” Tabilas, small business division manager at the Guam Economic Development Authority, told The Guam Daily Post. “Additive manufacturing has the potential to support the growth of related and tertiary industries such as: aerospace, healthcare (medical devices), automotive, and construction.”
Tabilas envisions the University of Guam serving as an anchor through research and workforce development, with Astro America’s facility turning that research into real-world applications.
“Guam’s Silicon Village or whatever we want to call it is not about one facility, it’s an ecosystem that encourages exchanges between researchers, companies and entrepreneurs, industry and the end users,” Tabilas said.
Central to this vision is a unique educational partnership. UOG is working with Astro America and the Colorado School of Mines on a 2+2 degree program in mechanical engineering in which the first two years are taught at UOG and the final two years delivered through a satellite campus that Colorado School of Mines plans to establish on Guam.
“Rather than our students having to go to another location, they will be here for the last two years of their degree program too,” said Hiroshan Hettiarachchi, dean of UOG’s School of Engineering, during a recent interview with The Post.
Students will graduate with a Colorado School of Mines degree while remaining on island. The satellite campus will focus specifically on mechanical engineering with an additive manufacturing emphasis, and students are expected to gain hands-on experience at Astro America’s facility.
“My understanding is that these students will get an opportunity to go to this testing facility owned by ASTRO, the future facility, and they will get to interact with the additive manufacturing professionals working for ASTRO,” Hettiarachchi said.
The arrangement reflects calculated planning around Guam’s economic realities. Universities must respond to local dynamics, just as institutions in major metropolitan areas adapt to large employers in their vicinity, Hettiarachchi said.
UOG’s civil engineering program, which received the highest level of accreditation from ABET last year, demonstrates the model’s potential. About one-third of the program’s 60-plus graduates now work for NAVFAC Marianas.
“There is a fierce competition between NAVFAC and the private sector to get the best students, best graduates,” Hettiarachchi said.
Hettiarachchi noted that undergraduate engineering degrees cannot be delivered virtually – hands-on laboratory work is essential and required for accreditation. The satellite campus model allows students to complete their education on island while maintaining quality standards of a research-oriented institution.
“You can never do an undergraduate degree in engineering in a virtual model. You cannot, period. Because there are so many hands-on activities like laboratory classes that you cannot be virtual,” Hettiarachchi said.
Tabilas views advanced systems as a way to strengthen local supply chains, positioning Guam as a production and innovation center for Micronesia and the wider Asia Pacific. The approach could turn research and military-focused projects into real-world ventures led by local innovators.
“Additive manufacturing allows for tech transfer, taking research and ideas from the lab to the market. So additive manufacturing can lead to the commercialization of research and even Defense-related applications by local entrepreneurs and businesses,” Tabilas said.
He emphasized the need to identify clear commercial opportunities and ensure students have access to equipment for learning and applying their research.
The vision builds on commitments made at the government level. Hettiarachchi said officials have promised funding for a facility to support the GAMMA initiative, though details about its location, scope and specific use remain under discussion.
“If it happens on campus and it becomes part of the campus infrastructure, it will be or it can be used for classroom activities related to office space and classroom activities related to this 2+2 program,” Hettiarachchi said.
UOG is also planning to launch an electrical engineering program within the next 18 to 24 months, further expanding the island’s technical education capacity.
While UOG’s Center for Island Sustainability operates a makerspace with 3D printing capabilities for awareness and small-scale projects, Hettiarachchi distinguished between that educational outreach and the industrial-scale training the GAMMA partnership aims to provide.
The center is “doing a great job in showcasing 3D manufacturing or 3D printing to the society,” Hettiarachchi said. But the educational program associated with the GAMMA initiative “will address the other side of the story, the training and the graduates – mechanical engineers who are capable of designing things in a factory setting in the industry according to industry standards.”
Tabilas said the technology could reshape Guam’s manufacturing sector, expanding production beyond the locally made merchandise and agricultural goods that now dominate the market.
“Further, additive manufacturing can increase the production of Made in Guam products for both the domestic and international markets…and go beyond the value-added and agriculture-related products that we currently see on the shelves,” according to Tabilas.
At the recent Guam Defense Forum, Tabilas discussed exploration of science and technology parks and facilitating technology transfer from Department of Defense applications to private sector use.
The Navy expects roughly 10,000 more active-duty personnel, dependents, and government civilians will relocate to Guam over the next decade, according to Post files. During a September meeting with the Guam Chamber of Commerce, Rear Adm. Brett Mietus, commander of Joint Region Marianas, characterized this increase as “fairly linear.”
Whether that growth and expanding defense presence catalyze the Silicon Village vision remains to be seen. But the pieces are moving into place: a manufacturing facility, educational partnerships, government support and growing recognition that Guam’s economic future may depend on building something beyond tourism.
“With the University of Guam as the anchor, through its research and development of a highly skilled workforce, and ASTRO America’s additive manufacturing facility to actualize research and develop real world applications, we have the potential building blocks for Guam’s version of Silicon Valley in California or the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina,” Tabilas said.