Advanced technology at MCTC creates 3-D models

MCTC's manufacturing engineering department is using advanced technology to make prototypes for manufacturing.

The printer accepts 3-D computer files and prints the 3-D objects using hard plastic.

"This is the future of manufacturing," said Theodore Triplett, head of the department. "Once people realized they could use this technology to print prototypes, they realized they could also use it to create the stuff they actually want."

Because these machines accept 3-D files, MRI's for a hip replacement may be sent to a similar printer and the part can be printed in titanium, allowing for a perfect match and easier recovery, said instructor Tony Pelino.

Cell printing is where a person's cells may be inserted into a printer and printed in a specific way.

Though they have not printed a functioning organ yet, they have printed live tissue for recovery needs, and soon an MRI of a person's kidney could be sent to a computer, edited for correct function and reproduced using their viable cells with this printer technology, Pelino said.

Plastic, metals, ceramics and food are already being printed into desired shapes, Pelino said. If there is a material out there, they are working on a way to print it.

"Your imagination is the only limit," said Christian Carlsson, a student in the program from Frederick, Md.

The technology was developed by researchers at MIT about eight years ago, but the real advances have been happening in the last couple of years, Pelino said.

The printer first puts down a hard animal fat base as a platform on which to print the object, Pelino said. It uses the same substance as filler to separate moveable parts so that they may remain free after printing.

Printing layer-by-layer in horizontal cross sections of one-thousandth of an inch, the new printers put down the material exactly where it goes, so it is an additive process that creates the desired objects, instead of the subtractive process used in traditional manufacturing, Pelino said. There is no waste or scrap, because things are not being cut out from larger pieces of material.

The printed objects are placed in a bath of detergent to wash away the mold.

The manufacturing engineering program also has a business component to help students use and market the skills they are learning at MCTC.

Triplett visited small businesses in the area asking what MCTC could do to help them to continue employing West Virginians and this is what we came up with, said Carol Perry, dean of MCTC liberal arts.

"Right now one of the major employers in West Virginia is small businesses and this will help provide the skills to help them stay in business," Perry said. "We're also incorporating into the program an entrepreneurship course that will help them where a lot of small businesses fail.

 "There are so many uses and you don't have the silos of industry that you're used to."

This means low overhead for businesses, as designers can work from home communicating electronically on an order-by-order basis to customize products to the customers' desires through computer-aided design.

"One day, people will shop and pay online then print out what they bought at home," said John Bowles, a student in the program.

The skills learned in the program not only help students to use the new printer technology but also help them to perfect designs using computer technology for traditional manufacturing currently being used in the area, allowing for fewer mistakes and less waste through trial and error.

Elizabeth Adams can be contacted at mccoma36@marshall.edu.