Manufacturing Technology Competitiveness Act of 2004 - (Sec. 2) Directs the President to establish or designate: (1) an Interagency Committee (IC) to plan and coordinate Federal efforts in manufacturing research and development; and (2) an Advisory Committee to provide advice and information to the IC from the non-Federal manufacturing research and development community.
(Sec. 3) Amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (NIST Act) to require the NIST Director to establish a pilot program of collaborative manufacturing research grants to partnerships among firms, educational institutions, research institutions, State agencies, and nonprofit organizations to encourage development of innovative, multidisciplinary manufacturing technologies.
(Sec. 4) Amends the NIST Act to require the NIST Director to establish manufacturing sciences research fellowships at specified postdoctoral and senior levels.
(Sec. 5) Revises the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program under the NIST Act to require the evaluation panel to notify any MEP center of the center's performance deficiencies if it has not received a positive evaluation. Authorizes the panel to place such a center on probation for one year and then reevaluate it. Authorizes the NIST Director, if a center has not addressed the deficiencies or shown significant improvement in performance, either to conduct a new competition to select an operator for the center or to close the center.
Establishes, within the MEP program, a manufacturing extension center competitive grant program to develop projects to solve new or emerging manufacturing problems.
Requires all MEP centers to submit annual audits to the Secretary and make such audits available to the public on request.
(Sec. 6) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2005 through 2008 to the Secretary of Commerce for: (1) scientific and technical research and services laboratory activities of NIST in specified categories; (2) the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980; and (3) construction and maintenance of NIST facilities.
(Sec. 7) Requires the NIST Director, as part of the Teacher Science and Technology Enhancement Institute Program, to carry out a Standards Education program to award competitive grants to institutions of higher education to support their efforts to develop curricula on the role of standards in the fields of engineering, business, science, and economics.
Authorizes appropriations for FY 2005 through 2008 to the Secretary of Commerce for the Teacher Science and Technology Enhancement Institute Program of NIST.
(Sec. 8) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2005 through 2008 to the Secretary of Commerce for the following NIST programs: (1) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (in this case, such funding may go through the Secretary or other appropriate Federal agencies); (2) Collaborative Manufacturing Research Pilot Grants; and (3) Manufacturing Fellowships.
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