14 DAY TRIAL // 3D printers are all well and good, but most of them are pretty expensive, and it's not like there are many people who have huge virtual stacks of 3D models just waiting to be made physical. So 3D printing services, like the one that Youngstown State University has just launched, are always a good idea.
So, if you go to school in Youngstown, Ohio, or if you're ever in the area and have the chance to tour the University there, you can check out the new Center for Innovation in Additive Manufacturing.
America Makes, formerly the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, collaborated with the university on it.
The ExOne M-Flex 3D printer is the primary building tool there, with a build volume of 400 x 250 x 250 mm, or 15.7 x 9.8 x 9.8 inches.
There's another machine there too, the ExOne X1-Lab printer, which is meant for material research and, thus, education.
The university's funds were used to purchase both printers, although money also came from the Ohio Third Frontier through the Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering project.
As some may have guessed, ExOne is the company that actually created the 3D printers.
Mostly, undergraduate and graduate students will use the printing center for their educational and research purposes.
However, the facility will be supervised by the university’s newest faculty members, specifically Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Brett Conner, and Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Guha Manogharan.
“We are committed to establishing a leadership position in additive manufacturing and developing YSU as the best place in the world for educational opportunities on this breakthrough technology,” said YSU President Randy J. Dunn.
The university is already participating in important 3D printing research projects, both alone and as part of collaborations, like the one it entered with the University of Texas at El Paso to research multifunctional 3D printing for the aerospace industry.