UI Labs

UI Labs, doing business as MXD USA, a Chicago-based non-profit digital manufacturing innovation center, operates as a prime contractor and grant recipient delivering advanced manufacturing research, cybersecurity capability development, and supply-chain technology solutions to the Department of Defense and defense-adjacent civilian agencies. The vendor competes full-and-open across all recent awards with no set-aside designations.

UI Labs' capability portfolio centers on model-based enterprise methodology, additive manufacturing production and qualification, manufacturing workforce education and credentialing, industrial cybersecurity, and rapid-response supply-chain digital platforms. Recent prime contract work includes a $5.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee definitive contract with the Army's Troop Support agency (awarded April 2023, completing April 2026) for the EMERGENT IV MXD LEARN CAPITAL curriculum and pathways integrating technology and learning; a $3.3 million cost-no-fee definitive contract with Troop Support (awarded January 2022, completing December 2025) for Paladin Howitzer model-based enterprise R&D and digital transformation of advanced manufacturing integration with logistics and supply chain for the Trident Warrior Exercise; and a $177 thousand purchase order from the Army's Communications Electronics Command (awarded January 2026, completing March 2026) for technical advisory services on uncrewed aircraft system motors. The vendor also holds a $9.8 million single-award IDIQ with the Defense Logistics Agency's Troop Support (awarded February 2026, running through February 2031) under the Joint Additive Manufacturing Acceptability (JAMA) IV Pilot Parts Program, funding laser powder bed fusion, directed energy deposition, material extrusion, cold spray, and binder jetting to produce eleven unique military parts for Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy use. Place of performance spans Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and multiple U.S. military locations including facilities in Alabama, Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia, California, Florida, and Pennsylvania. UI Labs also holds a $1.5 million Other Transaction IDV from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (awarded September 2024) for prototype research and engineering services.

Customer concentration skews heavily to defense. The top two funding agencies—Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support (4 awards, $24.8 million combined potential value) and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (3 awards, $7.5 million)—account for 55% of all awards and comprise the full 100% of the combined potential-value ranking. Additional customers include the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration, and the Army Materiel Command. Recent federal grant work includes an Office of Naval Research project grant (awarded September 2024, completing May 2026) on model-based enterprise maturity indexing; a National Science Foundation division project grant (awarded September 2024, completing August 2025) sponsoring the Manufacturing Systems Data Integration Conference to establish interoperable data frameworks for digital manufacturing; and an Army Engineer Research and Development Center cooperative agreement (awarded August 2022, completing September 2025) on instructional methods and effectiveness of 5G cellular technology for industrial facility IIoT applications. The vendor also received prior NIST cooperative agreements (March 2022) for rapid-response health and medical supply-chain marketplace orchestration and pandemic contact tracing using blockchain and privacy technologies.

Activity has grown significantly—one award in 2021 to six in 2024—with three awards added in 2026 year-to-date. Recent grant sub-award engagements position the vendor as a sub-recipient on manufacturing workforce development and cybersecurity training initiatives under the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness, and through other Manufacturing Innovation Institute partnerships, where UI Labs provides cyber-range training, CMMC playbook development, ICS/OT training equipment, and manufacturing stakeholder coordination. The vendor competes as a prime across full-and-open solicitations in the NAICS category Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences, with PSC codes concentrated in Defense R&D Services and Support-Professional Engineering/Technical.