I-DREAM4D, a Consortium for Innovation Driven Research/Education Ecosystem for Advanced Manufacturing for the Defense, is created on a DoD funding to support the talent needs for US military and US defense manufacturing operations. The focus of the consortium is through a collaborative effort, to conduct impactful research for defense innovations and to prepare engineers and scientists who lead the US defense manufacturing innovation.The consortium is composed of five higher education institutions (UTRGV, UT Austin, UTSA, Virginia Tech, VSU), national research centers, national labs, defense manufacturers, local high school districts, and community colleges. The goal is to promote advanced additive manufacturing (AM) and smart manufacturing (SM) and to support innovations for the defense industries.