U.S. President Barack Obama is urging top universities and companies to work together to develop new products and companies that boost manufacturing and create jobs.

Mr. Obama visited Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center on Friday and looked at robots that find sewer leaks, and a military vehicle designed far faster than usual with the help of people on the Internet, and learned about computer simulation programs intended to speed innovation by small companies.

The president says he is diverting $500 million from other programs to support innovations in processes, materials and machines.

He says such partnerships in the past have given rise to innovations such as the Internet.

This program, called the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership is led by the CEO of Dow Chemical and the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .