Additive manufacturing — commonly called 3D printing — is a fast-growing technology in northeast Ohio. And Tuesday it got bigger, literally.
“Sixteen tons and what you get?” A 22-foot long high-tech machine that creates sophisticated sand-casting molds for complex metal parts.
Humtown Products in Leetonia and Youngstown State University now jointly own an S-Max 3-D printer. It's the first in Ohio and one of a handful nationwide.
Barb Ewing, chief operations officer of the Youngstown Business Incubator, sayd "This is a technology that makes our manufacturing base much more competitive. We will be able to provide services to companies for great distances.”
The million dollar price tag of the X-Max was covered by an Ohio Third Frontier grant to Youngstown State through the economic development group America Makes.
Ewing also says the sophisticated printer is a nearly unique asset for the region.
“There are only two of these types of machines at universities in the country, Northern Iowa University and now YSU. And it is an indication of how much this region understands our manufacturing base.”
Youngstown State will use it in its engineering programs, but the S-MAX is located at Humtown Products, in the Columbiana County Port Authority Industrial Park.
