Governor Tom Corbett Honors Three Pennsylvania Companies, Praises Innovative Manufacturing Technology

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett today helped honor three Pennsylvania companies for their work to develop a 21^st Century manufacturing innovation called "additive manufacturing," saying it could change the way goods are manufactured and usher in an industrial revolution for Pennsylvania.

The governor announced the Research for Advance Manufacturing in Pennsylvania Program (RAMP) awards at a ceremony hosted by ACUTRONIC USA, a member of the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII), in Pittsburgh. The ceremony was held to celebrate Pennsylvania's role in winning federal funding for the NAMII pilot institute.

RAMP is a Corbett administration program funded through the Department of Community and Economic Development.  It is a competitive funding program providing small incentive grants to faculty-led teams at both Carnegie Mellon University and Lehigh University that engage in short-term innovation projects in cooperation with Pennsylvania manufacturers.

RAMP provides technical and economic benefits to the state's small, medium and large-sized manufacturing companies by enabling knowledge transfer, the discovery of new technologies and retention of highly-skilled students.

"It is not overstating things to say that the technology being recognized today will change manufacturing in ways we could never have imagined just a decade ago," Corbett said. "Using computers, knowledge and imagination, America's new factories will go from three dimensional computer designs to manufacturing at an almost instant pace. The implications of this technology are huge."

Each of the three manufacturers being awarded today, ExOne in North Huntingdon, Paramount Industries in Langhorne and ACUTRONIC USA Inc. in Pittsburgh, works with additive manufacturing. 

Additive technology employs computer design and computer-driven machinery to build complex parts and devices in microscopic layers, using plastics or powdered metals. The technology makes it possible to create shapes and designs previously impossible through traditional manufacturing methods.

NAMII is a public-private partnership with member organizations from industry, academia and government.  NAMII's goal is to transition additive manufacturing technology to the mainstream U.S. manufacturing sector and create an adaptive workforce capable of not only meeting industry needs but also increasing domestic manufacturing competitiveness.

Pennsylvania, providing $5 million in state contributions, was responsible in part for bringing in $30 million in federal funding, helping to locate NAMII in the "Tech Belt" region of eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

"This precise and economical technology means that manufacturing, something we once gave up for lost, is going to come back," Corbett said. "We are seeing nothing less than the beginnings of a new Industrial Revolution."

"To ExOne, Paramount Industries and ACUTRONIC, I say congratulations and thank you,'' Corbett said. "Your willingness to invest in our industrial future marks you as leaders in this new century."

For more information on the Governor's commitment to job creation, visit www.governor.pa.gov.

Media contact: Kelli Roberts, 717-783-1116

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor