IMPERIAL, Pa. (AP) — A $39 million General Electric plant in suburban Pittsburgh is set to begin developing 3-D printing and other high-tech manufacturing processes.
Company executives tell reporters that the 125,000-square-foot facility in Imperial will employ 50 high-tech engineers. The manufacturing center currently employs 22 engineers.
Three dimensional printing refers to a process in which digital images are fed into a machine that can manufacture corresponding products out of plastic, metals or other materials. GE has used the process to create fuel nozzles for jet engine models.
GE chose the location because Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University all have research programs devoted to 3-D printing and other advanced manufacturing technologies.