YSU Engineers, Downtown Tech Block Meet Maker
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Members of the technology community in the downtown and at Youngstown State University have been preparing to meet their Maker and last night got a glimpse of Maker handiwork.
No, not that Maker. The Maker Movement, as it’s called, on display this weekend at America Makes (READ STORY), the brand of the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute.
The Maker movement handiwork on display in the basement of America Makes, 236 W. Boardman St., consists of 23 3-D printers. There 17 judges, including two from Luxembourg, will test and evaluate the each printer’s performance this weekend in Make magazine’s third annual “shootout,” said its digital fabrication editor, Anna Kaviunaf France
The Maker Movement began converging on this city and setting up computers and 3-D printers in the America Makes building earlier this week before formally opening with last night’s VIP reception. The founder and CEO of Make: magazine, Dale Dougherty, and the founding director of America Makes, Ralph Resnick, offered greetings in a building filled with businessmen, engineers, engineering students from YSU, officeholders and the press.
Resnick noted it’s been almost two years since the Obama administration designated Youngstown as the first advanced manufacturing hub, designating its mission the development of additive manufacturing. The building at 236 W. Boardman St. is “this innovation factory you see here today. It is revolutionizing manufacturing,” Resnick said.
The technology being developed there is what will keep U.S. manufacturing competitive, he said, and the Maker Movement coming here this weekend is evidence of “the city being revitalized.”
Make: Magazine held its first two “shootouts” in its editorial offices in Sebastopol, Calif., near San Francisco, Dougherty noted, and “could’ve had 50 [entrants] to this year’s.”
His magazine encourages “tinkerers and inventors and builders” to use their imaginations, not just to make new things, but to develop new ways of making old things, such as prosthetics, false teeth and shoes.
“We’re trying to get people to try 3-D printing,” that is, use computers to come up with additive designs to make things, from the simple to the complex. On some of the tables last night were chess pieces made of plastic, created by additive design, and far more complex items.
“Our goal is to get people making things,” Dougherty said.
The Maker Movement is encouraging people of all ages, from “kids in elementary schools” to adults to use their imaginations, he continued. Crucial, Dougherty suggested, is providing elementary school students access to computers and 3-D printers, in their schools, at home and in libraries. “It’s particularly important for kids,” he said. “It’s not just about technology but encouraging a mindset.”
The 3-D printers the 17 judges will test fall into three categories and price ranges, Kaviunaf France said, one for students and educators, the second for hobbyists and the third for professionals. The least expensive model cost $499, the most expensive, a stereo-lithograph, $5,000.
The $499 model is aimed at allowing teachers to instruct their students in the basics. The more expensive machines have the quality and precision professionals need in manufacturing. “Which is right for which audience” is one aspect the judges will consider, she said.
On Sunday a public open house will be held at America Makes and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan will lead officials in taking a pledge to make Youngstown a “Maker City.”
It’s all part of the Youngstown Maker City Initiative launch weekend, which is designed to introduce the public, business and industrial users to broad applications for 3-D printing.
Pictured: Ralph Resnick, founding director of America Makes, Dale Dougherty, CEO of Make magazine, and Ed Morris, director of America Makes.
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Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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