(a) Establishment of Program.—The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Commerce, shall conduct a program to support the following activities of one or more manufacturing experts at institutions of higher education:

(1) Identifying the education and training requirements of United States manufacturing firms located in the same geographic region as an institution participating in the program.

(2) Assisting in the development of teaching curricula for classroom and in-factory education and training classes at such an institution.

(3) Teaching such classes and overseeing the teaching of such classes by others.

(4) Improving the knowledge and expertise of permanent faculty and staff of such an institution.

(5) Marketing the programs and facilities of such an institution to firms referred to in paragraph (1).

(6) Coordinating the activities described in the other provisions of this subsection with other programs conducted by the Federal Government, any State, any local government, or any private, nonprofit organization to modernize United States manufacturing firms, especially the regional centers for the transfer of manufacturing technology and programs receiving financial assistance under section 2196 of this title.

(b) Merit Competition.—Applications for assistance under this section shall be evaluated on the basis of merit pursuant to competitive procedures prescribed by the Secretary.

(c) Selection Criteria.—The Secretary shall select institutions for the award of financial assistance under this section from among institutions submitting applications for such assistance that—

(1) demonstrate that the proposed activities are of an appropriate scale and a sufficient quality to ensure long term improvement in the applicant's capability to serve the education and training needs of United States manufacturing firms in the same region as the applicant;

(2) demonstrate a significant level of industry involvement and support;

(3) demonstrate attention to the needs of any United States industries that supply manufactured products to the Department of Defense or to a contractor of the Department of Defense; and

(4) meet such other criteria as the Secretary may prescribe.

(d) Federal Support.—The amount of financial assistance furnished to an institution under this section may not exceed 50 percent of the estimated cost of carrying out the activities proposed to be supported in part with such financial assistance for the period for which the assistance is to be provided. In no event may the amount of the financial assistance provided to an institution exceed $250,000 per year. The period for which financial assistance is provided an institution under this section shall be at least two years unless such assistance is earlier terminated for cause determined by the Secretary.

(e) Manufacturing Expert Defined.—In this section, the term "manufacturing expert" means manufacturing managers and workers having experience in the organization of production and education and training needs and other experts in manufacturing.