The SC Fraunhofer USA Alliance (the Alliance) is South Carolina’s unique applied research partnership designed to help companies innovate faster, de-risk new technologies, and strengthen the state’s competitiveness in advanced industries.
Managed by the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness (SC Competes) and its applied research arm, Palmetto Applied Research Council, LLC), the Alliance meets urgent industry needs by innovatively solving private-sector challenges. The program supports innovation, research & development, and expansion in the state by providing matching funds for applied research, paired with subject expertise from the globally-recognized Fraunhofer network and South Carolina’s 2- and 4-year colleges and universities. With matching funds from the South Carolina Department of Commerce and the highest-skilled research expertise, the Alliance gives South Carolina companies and researchers a practical resource to thrive in the rapidly-evolving global economy.
At its core, the Alliance is built around a simple premise: when industry, post-secondary education, and mission-driven research collaborate on clearly-defined problems, solutions move much faster from concept to implementation. Alliance projects are structured to be industry-based and outcome-oriented, emphasizing near-term commercialization, productivity gains, or competitive advantage and which, in turn, advances South Carolina’s competitiveness on the global stage. This focus on kinetic, usable innovation is what differentiates the Alliance from the rest of the US and South Carolina from the rest of the world.
The Alliance co-funds applied research across a wide set of industries that reflect South Carolina’s industrial base and growth targets. Key sectors include automotive, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, advanced energy, logistics, life sciences, general technology, and advanced materials.
Since the Alliance was formalized, it has steadily expanded South Carolina’s capacity to compete in advanced research and technology deployment and is part of a larger dedicated strategy to raise South Carolina’s national and international profile as a place where advanced research is not only invented, but implemented. The partnership with Fraunhofer—one of the world’s most respected applied-research brands—gives the state credibility with global firms and helps signal that South Carolina is serious about technology-led competitiveness.
“We match real-world industry challenges with world-class applied research expertise to generate measurable results for South Carolina companies.”
– Kelly Baird, Director of SC Fraunhofer USA Alliance, SC Competes –
