What role can design play in the revitalization of American manufacturing? This is the question being asked, and answered in the School of Architecture’s Design Driven Manufacturing Initiative. This initiative is based on the premise that designers, and the design process, provide a unique set of solutions for rebuilding the domestic manufacturing sector. The interdisciplinary research project focuses on design as the intentional factor in reinvigorating post-industrial communities which have traditionally been reliant on businesses related to areas including tobacco, extraction, furniture and textiles. It brings together faculty members Jeana Ripple, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Suzanne Morse Moomaw, Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, and their students from across the arts, design, and planning disciplines to explore new building products, to create research-to-market scenarios for new industries, and to harness the power of new research and design thinking to address critical needs in our manufacturing markets, and in our communities, as a way to build a powerful new dimension to the creative economy. The project was originally funded by a Faculty Research Grant for the Arts in 2013.