3-D printing is fast becoming more and more popular with seemingly limitless possibilities. We've all seen the news stories about prosthetics made by 3-D printers, as well as other inventions and new creations.

Today, the Hudson Valley Advanced Manufacturing Center (HVAMC) at SUNY New Paltz received Central Hudson’s three-year, $250,000 Wired Innovation Centers grant that helps provide businesses and students alike with resources and valuable experience in working with the latest 3-D printing technologies.

The HVAMC acts as both a hub for innovation, and as a major production area for companies seeking to print manufactured items, supporting innovation, start-up businesses, and prototype development by bringing 3-D printing to the region. SUNY students also benefit by bringing together the Schools of Fine and Performing Arts with the School of Engineering, to provide an introduction to how to conceptualize and create digital designs that can be fabricated on a 3-D printer.  

SUNY New Paltz has worked with hundreds of local companies such as Helopak, a manufacturer of an advanced blade restraint system for the U.S. Navy;  MPI, which designs and builds wax injection equipment for the investment casting and jewelry industries; local lighting manufacturers Selux and Zumtobel; and Workshop, a fabrication studio for artists, galleries and institutions.

The Center employs full-time expert staff in design and additive manufacturing and interns from the college. During the last three years, the HVAMC purchased and installed the most advanced 3-D printing equipment in the region and has also provided MarkerBot 3-D printers for technical and curriculum support to local community colleges in Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan and Columbia-Greene counties.

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