Seeing Is Believing at America Makes Open House
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- An open house hosted by America Makes drew hundreds of people downtown Sunday afternoon, many of whom braved inclement weather and lined up early to get their first glimpse into what officials herald as the future of manufacturing.
The event, held at America Makes' offices on West Boardman Street, attracted more than 400 Mahoning Valley residents, business owners, and area "makers" who use additive manufacturing in their work or as their hobby.
"It's amazing," observed Don Francis, a retiree from Delphi Corp. who worked in its injection-molding department and was touring the 3-D printing hub. "I was interested in this new technology to see what it can do."
America Makes: The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, is the Obama Administration’s pilot program to create a series of advanced manufacturing centers across the country that facilitate research and development of new technology designed to improve American productivity.
The event capped a weekend-long kickoff celebration of the Youngstown Maker City Initiative, which included hosting editors and reviewers from Make magazine at the center. The magazine used America Makes as the backdrop for its 3-D printer "shootout" edition and brought in 17 judges from across the country to review the latest desktop 3-D printers.
The Youngstown center focuses on pioneering additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3-D printing, a process that is able to build complex parts with intricate designs by essentially building the component layer-by-layer with a specific material.
"It's very interesting," Francis said shortly after witnessing a demonstration on how a laser sinter 3-D printer is able to produce multiple parts from a single computer drawing. "It's got a long way to go since it's not for volume production."
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13, co-founder of the Maker Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, emphasizes the objective is to closely align the Mahoning Valley with developments in this new technology. "This is an exciting time for us. What it's really doing is putting a brand on the Valley as the place to be in this cutting-edge realm of additive manufacturing and 3-D printing."
Ryan said there is great potential in drawing international attention to Youngstown, referencing businessman Michael Garvey's and others efforts to build a "smart park" that would house top companies that supply and have a stake in additive manufacturing (READ STORY).
"We're already seeing companies like Make magazine and a lot of defense contractors who are now engaged in Youngstown, and who never would have been engaged before this," he said. "That's the first step."
Ryan cautioned the America Makes initiative would take time to build up, that the intention is to advance technology so that the private sector can run with it and create high-paying jobs. "This is going to be transformational for our Valley. How long will it take, we're not sure,” he said.
During the event, Ryan and America Makes founding director Ralph Resnick each signed a pledge dedicated to establishing Youngstown as a "Maker City."
"It shows the passion and commitment of the community," Resnick said. "We're pledging to be a Maker City to answer the president's challenge."
Area companies and institutions are already making good use of the technology, some of which displayed their wares under a tent set up just outside America Makes' offices.
Josh Blackann, hardware engineer at Turning Technologies, said his company uses a sophisticated 3-D printer today to manufacture prototypes for hand-held keypads that accompany Turning's audience response software.
"We've been able to do stuff in weeks instead of possibly months," he said. "Instead of tens of thousands of dollars, it's now costing us thousands of dollars."
Turning uses 3-D printing to manufacture prototypes that are sent to manufacturers, which produce the keypads used with its response system, Blackann said. "We're saving considerable time and money."
Others are using the technology to greatly reduce costs in their manufacturing processes.
Bronson LaMoncha, a mechanical engineer at Humtown Products in Columbiana, pointed out how additive manufacturing stands to completely overhaul the foundry and pattern-making industries.
Humtown is working closely with America Makes, the Youngstown Business Incubator, Youngstown State University and the University of Northern Iowa to perfect manufacturing sand cores through additive manufacturing.
"It eliminates the need for tooling," in cases where there are low-volume orders, LaMoncha said. The company recently printed a full-size engine block for a large manufacturer. "Within two weeks, we had an engine block in his hand. It probably saved him $100,000."
Nonprofit organizations are also fulfilling what they believe is a need in the community, and value the opportunity to step-up educational efforts.
Cody Shultz, who works out of The Oakhill Collaborative's Makerspace, says his printer cost him less than $300. "It uses all kinds of polymers" for materials. "I have a friend that recycles plastic and makes filaments out of it."
Congressman Ryan emphasized that the more people embrace the movement, the stronger the ripple effect across the entire community, which is a departure from traditional economic development initiatives of the past. Forty years ago, economic development was defined by building a single new manufacturing plant with thousands of jobs.
"Today, it's a much different approach," Ryan said. "We're layering this step-by-step, very methodically. If you're doing the research, you get the first wave of manufacturing because people want to manufacture things that are proximate to their research. That's what we're doing here and it's going to take some time."
Pictured: Heidi Daniel, director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, displays a product made by using the library's 3-D printer. Classes on how to use the printer will soon be scheduled at the library, she says.
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Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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