Nov 6, 2015 4 min read

MEADOW LANDS – Some Washington County manufacturers got their first look Thursday night at a new “Fab Lab” that’s revolutionizing production technology, and their response was, well, fabulous.

Members of Intermediate Unit 1 earlier this year received a $1.2 million, three-year grant from Chevron Corp., to construct both a permanent teaching lab in Grindstone, Fayette County, as well as a fully equipped mobile lab for visiting more rural locations. The IU-1 service area covers 25 school districts, including those in Washington and Greene counties.

On Thursday, they brought the mobile lab to the parking lot of the DoubleTree hotel on Racetrack Road, where Washington County Manufacturers Association held its monthly meeting.

Both labs feature the latest design and fabrication equipment, such as laser cutters, 3-D printers, vinyl cutters and milling machines, which will give students and the broader community access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM resources, to help build the skills and experience needed to succeed in STEM fields.

The labs are also seen as a way to promote innovation and design in the community and to help build local workforce capacity.

Charles Mahoney, IU-1’s executive director, told about 40 members of the manufacturers association his organization is one of only two in the region – the other Fab Lab is in Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center – to have received a grant for the labs.

“Chevron Corp. is addressing what’s happening with (natural gas) drilling and manufacturing” in the area, Mahoney said of the company’s commitment to providing the learning labs in the heart of the Marcellus Shale strata and in a region that has longtime experience in making things.

The presentation to the manufacturers group came at the recommendation of member Charles Rupprecht, general manager of BalTec Corp., a Swiss manufacturer of production equipment with offices in Southpointe.

Rupprecht, who said BalTec’s machinery is focused on riveting technology, said the company has installed more than 30,000 machines, mostly for the U.S. automotive industry.

He had the IU-1 lab fabricate a plastic prototype of a frame for holding a two-part metal assembly that receives a rivet on which the two parts can swivel freely. The part is used to move seats in Toyota’s RAV4 sport utility vehicle that’s manufactured in Kentucky.

Rupprecht said the prototyping helped his staff quickly determine the effectiveness of the frame for holding the components during the riveting process.

“In the automotive world, parts change in a heartbeat,” he said, adding that the ability to use 3-D printing to enable engineers to create prototype components before putting them into production reduces the time it takes to get the part to market.

Brandon Prentice, an instructor in the Fab Lab, said the technology can be especially useful “for smaller companies that don’t have the ability or financing to do some of these projects.”

WCMA President Ron Davis, who also works in sales for Accutrex Products, the county’s largest machine shop, noted that his company has numerous laser cutters and other high-tech production technology, but could work with the IU in learning the 3-D printing process.

The advent of 3-D printing to produce items is beginning to appear in the workplace of some large manufacturers.

Earlier this month, during a conference in Southpointe, engineers and a major manufacturer discussed the practical applications for additive manufacturing, commonly referred to as 3-D printing. The process allows companies to develop complex parts at a lower cost and in less time than through traditional manufacturing methods.

Greg Morris, an early additive manufacturer who eventually sold his companies to General Electric’s aviation division, where he works today, told the group that G.E. is investing $35 million in an additive manufacturing center to be built in Findlay Township. G.E. is working with engineering departments at Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh to refine metals used to make parts with 3-D printing.

Morris said the center will be used by all of G.E.’s manufacturing divisions.

On Thursday, when asked how students were responding to Fab Lab, which has been in use for about three weeks, Prentice said they were excited.

Earlier, he showed an array of items that have been produced, including everything from plastic keychains to a wooden stool and toolbox, to a plexiglass speaker case that students can customize.

“They love us,” he said. “They love making all of these different projects. They actually listen, they behave. We tell them, ‘This is a huge initiative of ours, and you guys were chosen to be our first class,’ and they respond very well to that.”