RIT opens $18M Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printing Center

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) opened an additive manufacturing and 3D printing research center at its Henrietta, NY campus to bolster the state’s advanced manufacturing capabilities and prepare students for the rigors of changing industrial environments, the university announced Tuesday.

Serving as a connection point for researchers from RIT and the corporate world, the unviersity’s Additive Manufacturing and Multifunctional Printing (AMPrint) Center will occupy 3200-sq-ft in RIT’s Institute Hall and operate under the direction of Prof. Denis Cromier.

“Our goal is to ensure that this region becomes a globally recognized industry hub for multi-functional 3D printing and additive manufacturing,” said Cromier, who teaches at RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering, in a university press release. “The partners in RIT’s AMPrint Center will develop new multi-functional 3D printing technologies that will transform the way many products are manufactured in the future.”

Cromier said technologies developed at RIT’s AMPrint Center will be “faster than anything currently on the market” and said the facility plans to make components from a wide range of performance-enhancing materials. The new center features laboratory space, offices, and meeting rooms, and is equipped with an Optomec Aerosol Jet printer, Stratasys additive manufacturing equipment, and a Novacentrix photonic curing system.

According to the university, the curing system is “rare in a university setting” and will “be a resource for both faculty researchers and regional companies creating new devices using metals and ceramics.”

ABC News affiliate WHAM 13 in Rochester, NY reported that New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo presided over the opening of the $18 million center on Tuesday morning. The AMPrint Center’s partners include Xerox, GE Research, Eastman Kodak Co., Stratasys, Clarkson Unviersity, SUNY New Paltz, and Corning Inc. The university expects smaller, regional companies to form partnerships with the AMPrint Center to take advantage of its resources and use its equipment.

The university’s president Bill Destler said in a statement that the AMPrint Center will “propel RIT and the Finger Lakes region to the forefront in accelerating the growth of this industry. The state’s Center for Advanced Technology designation, along with the grant we received through the state’s Higher Education Capital Facilities Program and a significant commitment from our partners at Xerox, made it possible for us to build and equip this state-of-the-art facility. The center will be a unique asset to companies for research, product development collaboration and the talent that they need to grow and compete globally.”

RIT’s AMPrint Center is one of 15 Centers for Advanced Technology in New York state supported by NYSTAR, NYS Empire State Development Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation.

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