Pennsylvania College of Technology is among a handful of educational institutions taking part in a public-private initiative to develop additive manufacturing technology.
A $30 million Department of Defense grant will allow Penn College to partner with manufacturers and other colleges to develop new training for the workforce.
Tracy Brundage, assistant vice president for workforce and economic development at Penn College, greeted with enthusiasm the news announced Thursday by Gov. Tom Corbett.
"I feel good because this is the mission of what we do at Penn College," she said.
She said the school already has in place much of the infrastructure and faculty for helping be part of what is to be known as the Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute.
Additive manufacturing offers more efficient methods of forming metal and other materials into highly complex shapes and parts.
Fact Box
White House to invest
in manufacturing hub in Ohio
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - White House officials have announced an initial $30 million investment to form a manufacturing hub in Ohio aimed at boosting technology in a three-state region.
President Barack Obama's administration announced details Thursday of a partnership between dozens of companies, universities and nonprofit organizations in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Its main hub in Youngstown, Ohio, is scheduled to launch by September.
The consortium will develop additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, which will affect a range of industries including defense, aerospace and automotive. The consortium also will add another $40 million to the pilot program, which beat out proposals from other regions in the country.
The Obama administration says the partnership is part of a plan announced in March to launch future manufacturing hubs around the country.
Brundage noted that while it is applicable to the emerging natural gas industry of central Pennsylvania, it also cuts across other industrial sectors.
"It made sense to have us (Penn College) as part of the training," she said.
Brundage doesn't anticipate the college spending any of its own resources to help launch the program.
The partnership is to include a team from Pennsylvania, as well as from northeast Ohio and West Virginia, with the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining in Latrobe serving as the lead for the manufacturing initiative.
Other educational institutions comprising the Institute are Penn State, Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh, Philadelphia and Robert Morris universities, as well as the University of Pittsburgh.
