Center Street Additive Manufacturing Project Shares $9.4M Grant
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A joint venture between Center Street Technologies and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining was awarded $9.4 million in federal funding to accelerate additive manufacturing for the U.S. Department of Defense.
U.S. Rep Tim Ryan, D-13, who is also vice chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, presented a mock check Wednesday to representatives of NCDMM and Center Street at Center Street’s plant on Ohio Works Drive.
“The Department of Defense can use this technology to make products in hours as opposed to weeks,” Ryan said. “That’s all being done here and this is an industry that is going to grow in the future for decades.”
Center Street houses one of the largest 3D build platforms in the world, said President Mike Garvey, and is capable of printing products weighing up up to 60,000 pounds.
The government funding allows Center Street to engage in the sort of advanced product development Garvey envisioned eight years ago, when officials announced the creation of Youngstown-based America Makes, the first of the Obama administration’s network of advanced manufacturing hubs.
“There are going to be parts made here from marine applications to aerospace applications initially,” he said. Eventually, the technology and products would be used to transition to the private sector, he said.
For example, Garvey said that the technology could be a perfect fit for the automotive industry.
“We’ve been talking to some of the automotive companies and there’s a real shortage of clay modelers,” he said. “With this technology, we’re going to be able to take the digital designs and manufacture those exact designs on a piece of equipment like this.”
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Pictured: Center Street Technologies President Mike Garvey at Wednesday’s event announcing $9.4 million in federal funding.
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