Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) has announced a new additive manufacturing/3D printing production center on its property, adding that Argon gas supplier Arancibia has signed on as the first tenant.
The additive manufacturing center, formally called Neighborhood 91, is being created in conjunction with the University of Pittsburgh and is the first development in the 195-acre Pittsburgh Airport Innovation Campus.
“The Pittsburgh region has always been a world leader in manufacturing,” says Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald in announcing the new on-airport center. “The neighborhood concept will create enormous efficiencies but just as important is leveraging our region’s universities, which will provide necessary research and development and fuel the workforce to the fill these jobs.”
The Neighborhood 91 concept is based on shared capital resources and will house a complete end-to-end ecosystem offering powder, parts, post-production, testing and analysis, communal powder storage facilities, efficiencies in production/post-production and delivery, tenants’ clients cost savings from on-demand printing, reduced transportation costs. It will also provide on-site access to argon, helium and other noble gases, which are essential elements of additive manufacturing, reaching up to 60 per cent of additive manufacturing costs.
As part of its support for Neighborhood 91, PIT is planning to construct a second microgrid to power the development to further increase cost savings for tenants. The airport is in the process of developing its first microgrid to power the terminals and airfield.
