A CITATION FROM WIKIPEDIA:

"The United States is the world's largest manufacturer, with a 2009 industrial output of US$2.33 trillion. Its manufacturing output is greater than of Germany, France, India, and Brazil combined, despite manufacturing being a small portion of the entire US economy as compared to other countries.

Main industries include petroleum, steel, automobiles, construction machinery, aerospace, agricultural machinery, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, and mining.

The US leads the world in airplane manufacturing, which represents a large portion of US industrial output. American companies such as Boeing, Cessna (see: Textron), Lockheed Martin (see: Skunk Works), and General Dynamics produce a vast majority of the world's civilian and military aircraft in factories stretching across the United States.

The manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy has experienced substantial job losses over the past several years.] In January 2004, the number of such jobs stood at 14.3 million, down by 3.0 million jobs, or 17.5 percent, since July 2000 and about 5.2 million since the historical peak in 1979. Employment in manufacturing was its lowest since July 1950. The number of steel workers fell from 500,000 in 1980 to 224,000 in 2000.

The U.S. produces approximately 18% of the world's manufacturing output, a number that has declined as other nations developed competitive manufacturing industries.  The job loss during this continual volume growth is the result of multiple factors including increased productivity, trade, and secular economic trends."

IT IS OUR BELIEF THAT MANUFACTURING IS BEING RE-INVENTED HERE IN U.S.A.BY A COMBINED EFFORT OF ACADEMIC RESEARCH [SEE CENTER FOR BITS TO ATOMS AT MIT], INDUSTRY AND A GENERATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED IN MAKING "THINGS". THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE DEDICATED TO THEM, TO ENABLE THEM TO GAIN HANDS- ON KNOWLEDGE OF THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING AND ITS SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING FOUNDATIONS.