Manufacturing innovation center planned in Harford County

A national technology development organization is planning to open a new manufacturing innovation center in Harford County.
The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, a consortium based in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the center will open in Aberdeen, and plans to focus on industrial use additive manufacturing, or the process by which design data is used to build an object layer by layer (like 3D printing). The center is aiming for advances in metallurgy and plastics, as well as to create new factory machinery that can increase speed and reduce costs of producing materials, according to a release.
The center will be located at the Higher Education Applied Technology Center, where Harford County is providing leased lab, training and administrative space.
“As a proven leader in advanced technology innovation development, NCMS has the unique ability to engage and work with a wide variety of partners while finding the critical infrastructure, talent, and investment for successful program and project management,” said NCMS President Rick Jarman said in a statement. “We believe Aberdeen, Maryland is the place where these vital innovation ingredients come together and are key to the new industrial revolution.”
NCMS is seeking to bring together government, industry and academic partners on the effort. Government partners include U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), as well as the Maryland Department of Commerce and Howard County, according to NCMS. From industry, founding members include 3D printing company 3D Systems and semiconductor manufacturing company Applied Materials.
“I look forward to seeing how the collaboration of NCMS alongside industry leaders will transform manufacturing – enabling rapid production at lower cost,” Van Hollen said in a statement.