Museum of Science and Industry

Last month, the Obama Administration announced the launch of a new institute in Youngstown, Ohio that will be dedicated to revitalization of American manufacturing through the emerging technology of 3-D printing.

The Department of Defense chose Youngstown to be the site of the pilot National Additive Manufacturing Institute (NAMII) and awarded the project $30 million in federal funding to make the institute a reality. Matched by $40 million in funds from private firms, colleges, and non-profits, the award is aimed at bringing new technological innovation in manufacturing back to America from overseas.

Youngstown was best known for decades as a city in America’s “Rust Belt”, or the region at the heart of the country’s manufacturing boom. In recent years, however, Youngstown and cities like it have seen production decline, causing unemployment to rise and innovation to stagnate. Many hope that the NAMII will make it a new leader in the burgeoning field of 3-D printing, with applications ranging from aerospace to computer design.

Interested in learning more about 3-D printing and seeing it first-hand? Make sure to check out the Museum of Science and Industry’s Wanger Family Fab Lab, which houses a number of 3-D printers and holds weekly laser cutting workshops, open to the public.

We Can’t Wait: Obama Administration Announces New Public-Private Partnership to Support [Whitehouse.gov]

Image: White House Blog