A Columbiana County company and Youngstown State University say a new $1 million dollar 3D printer will advance cutting edge manufacturing technology in the Mahoning Valley.
YSU President Jim Tressel was on hand Tuesday at Humtown Products in Leetonia to cut the ribbon for the printer, which is only one of its kind in the state of Ohio.
The printer is housed at Humtown’s new 3D mold manufacturing facility at the Columbiana County Port Authority’s industrial park.
The printer, secured via an Ohio Third Frontier grant to YSU and America Makes, will support the metal casting industry throughout Ohio.
The facility will also serve as a classroom and laboratory for engineering students from YSU and other universities and community colleges in Northeast Ohio.
The S-Max industrial production 3D printer from ExOne, weighing in at more than 16 tons, prints large, complex sand cores and mold packages directly from CAD (computer-assisted design) data, eliminating the need for physical pattern or tooling.
Mark Lamoncha, president and chief executive of Humtown. said the S-Max is one of the largest commercially available printers for sale in the United States.
“It will enable industry to respond with ultra-fast product-to-market prototyping and the production of parts that were once considered unable to be manufactured,” said Lamoncha.
Humtown, a traditional manufacturer to the foundry industry and technology integrator working to bridge the gap of technology, is collaborating with YSU, the Youngstown Business Incubator, the American Foundry Industry, America Makes and the University of Northern Iowa to bring additive manufacturing technology to the forefront of the metal casting industry.
The 2,800-square-foot climate- and humidity-controlled facility in Leetonia was designed to meet production process specifications for the successful operation of the printer.
The facility also houses office space and a 40-seat, auditorium-style training room that will be used to teach the American Foundry Society’s 3D Printing Optimization course. Also included is an area for working with and training YSU students and staff.
Source: wfmj.com
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