Chicago could be the center of a second industrial revolution, if researchers at a new Goose Island manufacturing hub have their say. The Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute is opening next month on the Near North Side island, where it will fund research to build a better factory for thousands of communities around the US. In the "factory of the future," researchers say, workers might use special wearable devices to analyze production, smart machines could share data wirelessly, and better operations systems could streamline everything, Crain's reports. The Chicago-based institute has won a $70M federal grant, and it has signed over 60 members who will propose manufacturing challenges for researchers to tackle. In January, the institute issued seven calls for proposals from companies all over the US. The institute hopes to have a $100M portfolio of sponsored projects within the next three years. [Crain's]