Located at Pittsburgh International Airport, the 3D printing industrial park known as Neighborhood 91 is quickly growing. The latest resident to take up a spot is materials and manufacturing developer HAMR Industries, who is working with the area’s master planner, The Buncher Company, to create an R&D and production facility in the additive manufacturing (AM) community.
Founded by Penn State University graduate researchers Michael Schmitt and Jeremy Schreiber, HAMR is a military-focused firm dedicated to commercializing academic research related to parts and materials made for harsh and extreme environments. This includes components for “gas turbine engines, hypersonics, directed energy weapons, advanced munitions, nuclear power, plasma facing components for fusion, 3D printed solid oxide fuel cells, downhole equipment for oil & gas, among others.” HAMR already boasts ownership of a WarpSPEE3D 3D printer, a cold spray metal AM system adopted by militaries globally and has developed a method for 3D printing solid oxide fuel cells and ceramic matrix composites.
“The advantages of Neighborhood 91 are clear, and HAMR is excited to join the Neighborhood,” said CEO and Senior Research Scientist at HAMR Industries LLC Dr. Michael P. Schmitt. “HAMR has acquired new AM equipment that will allow us to rapidly expand and mature our technologies, and N91 provides the perfect ecosystem to foster innovation.”
Brian Goetz, Executive Vice President of The Buncher Company, the master developer of Neighborhood 91 said: “In a brief three years, Neighborhood 91 went from concept to reality as a result of partnership with the community and innovative companies that believe in N91’s overall mission of condensing and accelerating the AM supply chain process.”
HAMR joins a number of interesting players in the AM space at Neighborhood 91, including recycling and production company Arencibia, service provider Cumberland Additive, and rail company Wabtec. Mostly recently, Metal Powder Works (MPW) moved in to introduce its low-energy, low-cost metal powder production technology. One can imagine MPW working with HAMR to produce unique materials for military applications. The Neighborhood’s location at the local airport can then see parts, possibly made by Cumberland, shipped off to a client elsewhere in the world.
Images courtesy of HAMR.