SME opens 2027 Blue Sky Competition for manufacturing ideas

SME has opened submissions for the 2027 Blue Sky Competition, marking the contest’s 10th year and its effort to surface radical manufacturing ideas. Finalists will present in Washington, D.C., on May 4, 2027, with the winner to be honored at SME’s Fall Gala in October.

Why it matters: - The Blue Sky Competition is designed to turn early-stage manufacturing concepts into real-world solutions by connecting them with expertise, partners and capital. - SME is using the anniversary year to push ideas that could improve manufacturing competitiveness, resilience and economic growth. - The contest also aims to elevate the next generation of researchers, engineers, scientists and educators shaping the industry.

What happened: - SME opened submissions for the 2027 Blue Sky Competition on Oct. 13, 2026. - The national contest is now in its 10th year. - The deadline for entries is Feb. 15, 2027. - Finalists will present on May 4, 2027, in Washington, D.C. - The winner will receive the SME David Dornfeld Manufacturing Vision Award at the SME Fall Gala in October 2027.

The details: - SME started Blue Sky in 2017 to identify visionary manufacturing concepts with the potential to scale once matched with public or private capital and other partners. - Judges come from industry, academia and government. - Judges assess submissions for scope, interdisciplinary nature and potential for wider application in U.S. manufacturing and education. - The 2026 winner was a conceptual framework for using molecular information to program the structure and properties of materials. - Prior winners have included concepts for automated factories in space, bioprinting human tissue in operating rooms and using additive manufacturing to improve food production. - SME says it has been advancing adoption of artificial intelligence, automation and additive manufacturing while helping build the talent needed to use those technologies. - SME says the competition has spent a decade propelling promising ideas and positioning them for scale.

Between the lines: - The anniversary framing signals that SME sees Blue Sky as more than a contest; it is a pipeline for long-horizon industrial innovation. - The focus on bold, even “outrageous” ideas suggests SME wants concepts that challenge current manufacturing methods, not incremental improvements. - The emphasis on education and workforce development shows the competition is meant to support both technology development and the talent base needed to deploy it.

What's next: - Applicants will continue developing and submitting concepts through the Feb. 15 deadline. - Judges will review entries and narrow the field to finalists before the May presentation in Washington. - SME will name the winner later in 2027 at its Fall Gala.

The bottom line: - SME is betting that the next wave of manufacturing breakthroughs will come from pairing unconventional ideas with the people and funding needed to make them real.