News
Rethinking Manufacturing
July 02, 2019 | Categories: America Makes News
Ashley Totin, project engineer at America Makes, teaches children about 3D modeling and printing. Credit: D. Stewart/NIST
By Zara Brunner, NIST Office of Advanced Manufacturing
A few months ago, I got the chance to travel to Youngstown, Ohio. As I came into town, it struck me that Youngstown was like many other cities across America, including my hometown of Buffalo, New York. In its heyday, Youngstown was a center of manufacturing and steel production — industries that employed thousands of people and formed the backbone of the community. However, this area took it particularly hard when the economy changed and traditional factories closed, and it is still fighting to transform.
At the center of this transformation is America Makes, and a lot of passionate individuals throughout the community. We tell the story of two of those individuals in our new video, “Rethinking Manufacturing,” which is included as part of this blog post and is also available on our YouTube page. More than just the story of two individuals, “Rethinking Manufacturing” is a story about the changes underway in communities across the nation and new opportunities from advanced manufacturing.