In December, the U.S. Department of Defense provided an update on the total amount of funding pledged to the Advanced Tissue Biofabrication Manufacturing Innovation Institute. A total of $294 million, including $80 million from the DoD, has now been committed to the public-private initiative, which is aimed at developing innovative manufacturing techniques that could be used to mend and replace cells, tissues, and organs. That’s up from $160 million in June, when the Obama administration first announced the ATB-MII program.

Then came news last week that a number of companies, including Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation (NYSE: ROK), had signed on to back the project. Rockwell, which develops software and provides services for customers in a number of industries, including semiconductors and biotechnology, said it has committed $10 million of the funding total.

The timing of these updates could be seen as a signal to lawmakers and White House officials that even though the ATB-MII project is still in its infancy, it has made progress in the eight months since being announced. Read the full story here.