Advanced Manufacturing : Innovation + Job News

3D printing is fast becoming an accessible, affordable way to create products, pieces and prototypes. Machine parts, toys and even jewelry can be printed quickly and with precision using 3D printing.

A new Cincinnati company is leading in the industry—3DLT—an online marketplace where users can purchase and download 3D printer templates. Using home printers or 3DLT's printer network, users can print pre-designed products in a variety of materials—from plastic to metal and even leather.

"We work with industrial designers across the world," says 3DLT's founder, Pablo Arellano, Jr. "They love to design, and we have them build these templates."

Arellano launched 3DLT at TechCrunch Disrupt NY in early May. The Cincinnati native is working with a team of co-founders to get the company off the ground. Arellano has founded several other startups, and is a former Procter & Gamble brand manager.

Arellano described the company as the iStockphoto of 3D printing.

"I'm a big fan of iStockphoto," he says. "I thought the next thing you can potentially download is 3D templates, and I wanted to be in that space. I've been working on this full-time for the past four months."

3DLT templates include bracelets, rings, mesh lampshades, eyeglass frames, shoes and iPhone 4S protectors.

The self-funded company is beginning to seek investors. 3DLT already has gotten national attention, and has been featured in TechCrunch, Wired, The Verge, Fast Company, Venture Beat and Popular Science. It's also a winner of the 2012 X-LAB competition, and has moved into the new Cintrifuse incubator.

Arellano believes most of the companies initial users will be commercial, but as 3D printer prices drop, more consumers will begin to print their own products.

"The prices are dropping very quickly," he says. "It's already happening."

By Feoshia H. Davis
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According to research released in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year, hospitals in 2010 performed 243,802 knee replacement surgeries, up from 93,230 in 1991. According to the study, annual demand for knee replacement surgeries could reach 3.5 million by 2030. The researchers attribute the potential increase to various factors, including aging baby boomers.

The popularity of the procedure and the price of knee replacement devices are contributing to rising health care costs, says Harold Linville, co-founder and chairman of Dayton’s NovoSource.
 
“The market for knee replacement devices is dominated by three or four companies,” he explains. “They provide great products that produce excellent results, but their overhead is huge, with large facilities, big staffs, expensive advertising and a costly distribution system.”
 
NovoSource is introducing its own knee replacement device. “It’s being manufactured by one of the companies the big players use to make their products,” he says. “Our device is made of the exact same materials and has the exact same functionality. The quality is the same. The difference is that ours will be much less expensive.”
 
The reason, according to Linville, is NovoSource’s streamlined business model. 

“We have a significantly lower overhead, with fewer employees and one sales person,” he says. “We also have better supply chain management because we’re working with our suppliers to establish long-term manufacturing agreements. Our approach also means we can maintain a lower inventory without tying up money.”
 
The company won’t be doing any advertising and will sell directly to hospitals and surgeons. “In terms of overcoming skepticism about considering our device, we’re able to provide data to prove that the quality of our product is just as good as anything else available on the market,” he states.
 
NovoSource’s knee replacement device is under final review by the FDA, and results are expected soon. The company plans to start distribution in Florida with the surgeons it worked with to develop the product.

NovoSource received $1.2 million in funding from the Dayton Development Coalition, with the rest coming from angel investors.
 

Source:  Harold Linville, NovoSource
Writer:  Lynne Meyer

Cincinnati Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls introduced a motion that could change the way residents and businesses pay for powering their spaces with solar energy.

She says the benefits are two-fold -- increasing the demand for solar panel manufacturing and lowering the city's reliance on fossil fuels.

This plan is one of several energy-saving initiatives introduced since City Council adopted the Green Cincinnati Plan in 2008. That plan included a goal of one in every five Cincinnati buildings incorporating rooftop panels fueled by solar power by 2028.

"There's an emerging solar manufacturing sector here, and we would be creating a financing mechanism that would allow the demand to emerge for solar energy," Qualls says. "It's not a viable option for many property owners right now."

Qualls introduced a measure that directs the city to look into working with local environmental organizations like Green Umbrella, the Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance and the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to help create a Property Assisted Clean Energy, or PACE, financing program.

PACE programs is a public/private initiative that are enabled by legislatures in nearly three dozen states across the country—including Ohio—which help business and homeowners pay for energy upgrades to existing buildings. Typically, participating property owners can finance those upgrades as a property tax assessment for up to 20 years.

"It's tax neutral, promotes 'going green' and reduces our carbon footprint," Qualls says.

The city has used the property tax assessment mechanism before for property owners who have been responsible for other large fixes, Qualls says.

"It has been done to pay for costly repairs over time—that's the same principle PACE follows," she says.

Ohio passed its PACE law in 2009. In 2012, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority issued the first PACE bonds in Ohio for a project to upgrade the City of Toledo’s municipal buildings.

Cincinnati must pass its own legislation for a local PACE program. Quall's motion directs the administration to bring the legislation back to Council within 60 days.

By Feoshia H. Davis
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When Jeremy Flack and his former business partner ran a steel company in 2004, a difference in style caused the business to close six years later, with the partners going their separate ways. When Flack founded Flack Steel in 2010, he knew he would do things his own way.

“I had a lot of ideas, and I saw a lot of opportunities with the last business I was with,” says Flack. “In this business I’ve been able to free up ideas and capital to pursue our own model.”
 
Flack Steel distributes various steel products across North America. The steel is used to build anything from shelving to rail cars. As an added service Flack, who has a financial background, provides market analysis and steel purchasing counsel to his customers, holding space on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
 
“Offering derivatives-based pricing strategies for customers allows us to more closely mirror how they buy their raw materials to how they go to market with their products,” explains Flack. “Most steel companies do not engage in this yet because they have a general lack of knowledge of the commodities futures industry and seem to be reluctant to educate themselves.” Furthermore, Flack Steel doesn’t own equipment, allowing the company to develop unbiased supply chains.
 
Flack’s model works. The Warehouse District-based company has grown from one employee to 28, and sells 180,000 tons of steel a year to OEM customers.
 
While many people in Northeast Ohio would argue that the steel industry is a thing of the past, Flack is quick to say that's not so. “As long as there is society, there is going to be a steel business,” he says. “There’s as much steel made in the United States today as there has ever been.”
 
The difference is steel is made a lot faster with fewer people. That’s why Flack goes above and beyond in his company. “By dealing in futures and options for steel, we’re rather cutting-edge,” he says. “We’re kind of shaking it up, kind of maverick. We’ve got a new take on building a business.”

Flack attributes his rapid growth to having the right relationships, hiring the right people and staying ahead of the curve.

“We have consistent earnings and a flexible cost model, which has helped us to attract banking capital,” he explains. “We are progressive thinkers, use open architecture software, and encourage risk taking and innovation in our workforce. We are progressive in an industry that is rooted in tradition. Unless you do something differently you have a long road ahead.”

Flack moved here 18 years ago and has no intention of going any place else. “This is a good place to be,” he says. “I’m a Cleveland native now. My business relationships are here, this is where I know people. This is the Silicon Valley of the steel industry.”

 
Source: Jeremy Flack
Writer: Karin Connelly

NorTech celebrated seven Northeast Ohio companies last week at its 13th annual NorTech Innovation Awards. The companies were recognized for developing new technologies that contribute to the economic success of the region.
 
“Innovation is critical in sustaining U.S. competitiveness, especially in this constantly changing global marketplace,” says NorTech CEO Rebecca Bagley. “We want to really highlight these innovations. Our goal is to create jobs, attract capital and generate a long-term economic impact in the region.”
 
The awards were given out in six categories: advanced energy; advanced materials; biosciences; flexible electronics; instrumentation, controls and electronics; and water technologies.
 
Local companies honored include Quasar Energy Group, which paired with Forest City Enterprises to build an anaerobic digestion facility on a brownfield in Collinwood. The facility, known as Collinwood BioEnergy, takes organic waste and turns it into electricity for Cleveland Public Power.
 
The system generates 1.3 megawatts of electricity per day and saves 42,000 wet tons of trash from landfills each year. Quasar has created more than 60 Ohio jobs with this technology.
 
Cardioinsight, formed by a CWRU professor and two engineering students, was honored for its development of a lightweight vest that aids in the diagnosis and treatment of electrical disorders in the heart. Cardioinsight paired with Nottingham Spirk to design and develop the vest.
 
“It’s a great partnership,” says Bagley. “They have a prototype that works and is also comfortable for the patient.”
 
Cleveland HeartLab, a spinoff from the Cleveland Clinic, developed clinical tests for myeloperoxidase, which is a plaque in the blood that indicates patients’ risks for heart attacks. Cleveland HeartLab has created more than 100 jobs since its start in 2010 and revenue has grown by 100 percent each year.
 
Other companies honored were NASA Glen Research Center, Akron Surface Technologies, Codonics and SNS Nano Fiber Technology.

 
Source: Rebecca Bagley
Writer: Karin Connelly

More and more, Cincinnati is recognized as an ideal city for startups, filled with resources for those interested in establishing their new ideas in the professional world. But what about independent artists intent on making and distributing their wares? For them, there’s CNCY MADE.

“The core idea is that we want to be able to start making connections in the local community to assist people who might be making their own physical products, but need help in figuring out what is needed to step up in scale,” says Matt Anthony, who is spearheading CNCY MADE. Anthony is one of the founders of Losantiville, an Over-the-Rhine based design collective filled with UC DAAP graduates.

Right now, CNCY MADE is only collecting information. Interested to see what the turnout will be, CNCY MADE is gauging the community’s interest and compiling intelligence on what supplies are widely available within the I-275 loop.

Whether you’re a creative designer with an idea for a product line, a manufacturer or have access to bulk raw materials, CNCY MADE wants to hear from you—if the project picks up momentum, it could be an invaluable resource for the city.

“We have great support for people who understand branding and consumer packaged goods,” Anthony says. He adds there is “a steady stream of creatives and students coming up with solid product line ideas and even prototypes who just can’t figure out the next step to scaling production to make a functioning business.”

CNCY MADE will not only connect makers with necessary contacts, it will provide a heads-up on what expenses to expect.
“The website could be a tool for actually connecting or just getting the details necessary to attain capital,” Anthony says.

“What we find in these early stages will determine some of the outputs for CNCY MADE.”
 
To get involved with CNCY MADE, visit their website and fill in the details.

By Sean Peters

Humtown Products, a solution provider in the metal casting industry, has been invited to meet with researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) thanks to the Columbiana-based company’s strong performance following the economic collapse of 2008. The invitation from the prestigious research university comes with interest in CEO Mark Lamoncha’s innovative tactics that ultimately saved the company.
 
Lamoncha’s father founded the company in 1960 when the steel industry was booming across the United States. Needless to say, economic needs have drastically shifted, causing the company to downsize from 220 employees to 17 in 2008. “The whole industry in 2008 was off 70-percent in sales,” explains Lamoncha. “Most companies don’t survive it.”
 
To Lamoncha, the answer has been to provide his small staff with incentives to increase their efficiency. Following the layoffs, Humtown instituted an efficiency-based pay rate system that calculates productivity as often as 20-seconds. The incentives ultimately saved the company. “In 2012, 26 people put out the same production sales as what 151 did in 2008,” Lamoncha notes, adding that the system isn’t being done anywhere else in the country.
 
While the system has proven beneficial to Humtown as a company, employees themselves are now able to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in order to improve their performance, thus generate more income. “[Employees] study their own work habits and improve on them,” Lamoncha explains. “Their body mechanics, their method of movements, and motivation affect their pay rate based on each cycle of operation.” It’s the proverbial “win-win” scenario.
 
Big picture, Lamoncha hopes his system will help alleviate suffering not just within the Ohio economy, but nationally as well. He sees his pay rate system as an answer to what he describes as America’s low efficiency levels.
 
“Our biggest focus is on extreme efficiency improvements to reduce cost and sell product, being able to compete and leverage against the market price,” says Lamoncha. “That’s where America needs to be if they want to sell products here and abroad.”
 
 
Source: Mark Lamoncha
Writer: Joe Baur

Success didn’t come in a blinding “aha” moment, but Andy Zsinko ultimately met a challenge from a buddy to create a unique, long-lasting motorcycle paint job.
 
Zsinko, founder and chief executive officer of Darkside Scientific in Medina, initially created a sprayable photoluminescent coating that made the motorcycle dazzle. The problem was that it looked that way for only a short time.
 
After several months of tinkering, however, Zsinko created LumiLor Electroluminescent paint, which continues glowing when electrically energized. It’s the world’s first and only such specialty coating, and the company has several patents pending for it.
 
Electroluminescence is an optical and electrical condition created when a material emits light in response to an electric current, explains Scott Smith, Darkside Scientific’s vice president of sales and marketing.
 
“Our LumiLor Electroluminescent paint is activated by an electric current and lights up with simple driver electronics,” he says. “A basic electronics package retrofitted on a motorcycle or car is all that’s needed.”   
 
Smith notes that the new paint can be used to create different special visual effects. “You can paint multiple fields on your vehicle to animate your paint job, and strobing and sound activation are also among many possible electronic effects with LumiLor.”
 
The company is developing a network of auto and motorcycle shops to become licensed to apply LumiLor paint. “We’re choosing partners carefully, based on their experience, expertise and capabilities,” Smith explains. “They’ll go through special training and a rigorous certification process to ensure that the work they do represents the quality brand image we’re looking to portray.”
 
Darkside Scientific plans to make a big splash this March by debuting the world’s first fully electroluminescent-painted motorcycle at Daytona, Florida’s, special Bike Week.
 
The firm, which was established in 2011, has six employees and plans to expand as business grows.


Source: Scott Smith
Writer: Lynne Meyer

Texting and talking on a cell phone while driving are just two of the behaviors that engineers at the new $1.3 million OSU Driving Simulation Lab will be studying.
 
The state-of-the-art facility, located on the university’s campus, is the result of a partnership between OSU, Honda Research & Development of America (HRA) and the Ohio Supercomputer Center.
 
According to Jan Weisenberger, senior associate vice president for research at OSU, engineers and researchers will use the lab to study a wide range of driver behaviors. “The overriding goal for studies conducted at the lab will be the design of vehicles that will minimize driver distraction, reducing the incidence of accidents and improving auto safety. Other goals include gaining a better understanding of human perception, cognition and attention to help create new vehicle designs that are less stressful and more enjoyable for drivers.”
 
The lab will be available for use by university, industry and government groups to investigate how drivers interact with, and react to, a wide variety of in-vehicle systems, vehicle characteristics and external driving situations. Users can also study special populations, such as teenagers or elderly individuals, or evaluate the effects of fatigue on driving accuracy.
 
Weisenberger points out that the auto industry can use the lab to evaluate new designs for infotainment systems in a vehicle that can minimize driver distraction, and a university researcher could study basic mechanisms of attention and cognitive workload.
 
The facility boasts three simulation setups with a full array of hardware and software, according to John Dirrig, senior manager/chief engineer, Corporate and Technical Communications for HRA, “The hardware includes projection screens, motion simulators and user interfaces and equipment for measuring eye movements and gaze, as well as physiological correlates such as blood pressure and heart rate. The software allows the researcher to simulate different driving scenarios, like urban, freeway, or suburban settings, and to alter the vehicle dynamics of steering, braking and other characteristics to simulate unexpected occurrences in different weather, road and lighting conditions.”
 
The lab is being funded by HRA and the Ohio Board of Regents. “Additional funding from the Honda-OSU partnership is supporting operation costs as we bring the facility on line,” Weisenberger notes. “Ultimately, we hope to support operations from user fees and research grants.”

Sources: Jan Weisenberger, John Dirrig
Writer: Lynne Meyer

The Dayton Region Signature Fund has announced its recent distribution of $520,000 to area tech startups, totaling $1.4 million for 2012. The Dayton Development Coalition manages the fund to assist the growth of technology-based companies.
 
Launched in September of 2007, over 60 startup businesses comprise the Fund’s portfolio, making a significant difference in the local economy. This latest distribution was raised primarily from the exit of NanoSperse, a design and manufacturing company located at the National Composite Center. Their work consists of manufacturing nano-enhance dispersions for aerospace and industrial uses.
 
“We support investments that support individual entrepreneurs and grow the region’s key cluster areas,” explains Ray Hagerman, Vice President of Investments at the Dayton Development Coalition. These clusters include Aerospace Systems, Advanced Materials and Advanced Manufacturing, Information Technology and Advanced Data Management, and Human Sciences and Healthcare.
 
Universities and non-profits stand to benefit as well. “The money is going to investors, some of which are universities and non-profits,” explains Hagerman, adding the investment will allow them to have “more money to use for scholarships and to give away to worthy causes.”
 
Companies aligned with the Fund have received nearly $200 million in additional funding, creating approximately 412 jobs. This clustering of companies has garnered attention from global corporations that are now looking at Dayton as a place to build additional supply chains.
 
“The Fund’s primary goal is to provide solid returns to its investors,” says Hagerman. “The by-products are jobs and healthy companies.”
 
 
Source: Ray Hagerman
Writer: Joe Baur

NorTech received one of seven Regional Innovation Cluster contracts from the Small Business Administration to grow its flexible electronics cluster FlexMatters. The four-year, $385,000 contract will allow NorTech to train and assist small companies in the FlexMatters cluster in attracting larger market leaders as customers through its Anchor Customer Engagement (ACE) Academy.
 
“One of the really important things about this contract is it gives us recognition on a federal basis,” says NorTech vice president Byron Clayton. “Being nationally recognized as an emerging cluster helps us bring more federal funding to the region.”
 
This is the fourth time the FlexMatters cluster has been recognized on a national level. The ACE Academy will help give the region an upper hand in terms of both jobs and securing the first customers for new technologies.
 
“It’s designed to help small, emerging businesses capture the first significant customers,” says Clayton of the academy. “It helps them be prepared so if they do get that opportunity to present themselves, they put their best foot forward. The goal is to go away with something concrete.”
 
Success of these businesses translates into more jobs in the region. “It really helps small businesses grow and create high paying jobs in growth industries,” says Clayton. “We’re already seeing success, and we’re just getting started.”

The SBA award is for one year, with a four year renewal option.

 
Source: Byron Clayton
Writer: Karin Connelly

With big names in branding hovering in and around Cincinnati, it can start to seem like the brand is everything, and intangible products are the only thing that can really sell – and scale.

However, two industrial designers pairing up in Over-the-Rhine are challenging that assumption, combining their skills in design, engineering, and budding knowledge of manufacturing and sourcing materials at a start-up they call “The Launch Werks.”

As the name implies, The Launch Werks not only offers its own, tangible products, but helps small businesses and innovators create prototypes from their ideas. That means doing everything from helping to design prototypes that consumers will rush to engage with to planning the look of the final object, imagining how people might interact with it, and even specifying the materials it should be manufactured from and where to purchase them.

Co-founders Noel Gauthier and Matt Anthony met as industrial design students at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP) and quickly realized a shared interested in what happens after the design phase of a new product.

“The leap it takes to to go from an idea to a real product fascinates us," Gauthier explains. "So much happens when an idea is translated into a made thing … Having worked in various product design firms around the country, we never had a close connection with where and how the products we designed were being made.”

So he and Anthony began to connect Cincinnati-area product development with high-quality manufacturing, filling a niche for companies that weren’t ready for large-scale production, but needed something to show potential investors.

Anthony says he sees an opening right now for foodie-friendly items. “I think we’re going to see more local stores and products follow developments in the food movement: making unique products and doing it well. But we want to see some of them scale the way that Jeni’s Ice Cream or Taste of Belgium has.”

For a city already big on branding, it might just be a tasty step in the right direction.

By Robin Donovan

NASA will showcase its best developments in its Space Technology Program November 28-30 at NASA Technology Days, held at Cleveland Public Auditorium. The event will allow the public to see what technological developments come out of NASA Glenn Research Center, many of which could be adopted and implemented in the private sector.
 
NASA Glenn is working with NASA’s Office of Chief Technologies, which conducts ground experiments to further space technology. “Ninety-nine NASA technologies will be showcased,” says Joe Shaw, deputy director of NASA’s Office of Technology Partnerships and Planning. “We want to demonstrate the existing technologies.”
 
Attendees will have the chance to see technologies ready for commercialization, learn about opportunities to partner with NASA on technology development and meet with major research companies.
 
The technologies featured can be transferred into a variety of industries, says Shaw, such as advanced energy, automotive, human health and innovative manufacturing. “These are technology experts showing off their technologies,” says Shaw. “Even though they were developed for space aeronautics, they can be broadly used across many sectors. These industries are extremely important, not just for Northeast Ohio, but for to the Midwest. There are a large number of people in these sectors.”
 
The hope is Technology Days will build partnerships and foster technology transfer between NASA and local businesses. “These technologies can be moved quickly to the commercial sector, which creates economic development, which creates jobs,” says Shaw. This will give companies a chance to learn about the opportunities.”
 
The event is free and open to the public.

 
Source: Joe Shaw
Writer: Karin Connelly

Corrosion is a serious global problem of massive proportions, according to Todd Hawkins, managing director of Massillon’s Tesla NanoCoatings Limited.

In response to the problem, Tesla NanoCoatings worked with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) for five years to engineer Teslan -- a revolutionary carbon nanocoating to control corrosion.

The company recently leased 1,000 square feet of space at Stark State College’s Advanced Technology Center to conduct expanded research and development on Teslan. According to Hawkins, the product has potential applications in the aerospace, petrochemical, transportation, marine and industrial markets.

“Teslan’s foundation is fullerene, the toughest, most resilient and most effective organic protective coating developed for metals,” Hawkins explains. “It’s stronger than diamonds. One of its major characteristics is that, if damaged, it will transfer electrons to the defective site and non-corrosion will occur.”

According to Hawkins, Teslan has undergone extensive exposure and immersion testing in both fresh and sea water by the U.S. Army ERDC in various locations across the country. Other testing has been ongoing internally at NASA and Battelle as well.

“Now’s the time for expanded research and development, and we’re excited about this opportunity with Stark State,” he says. “Collaboration is vital to bringing new ideas to fruition, and we look forward to a very productive relationship with Stark State.” The company will be recruiting engineering students as interns.

The college was instrumental in Tesla NanoCoatings receiving a $100,000 startup award from the Innovation Fund, a regional fund that supports technology-based entrepreneurial endeavors and emerging businesses.

“We’re proud to welcome Tesla NanoCoatings to our campus,” says Para M. Jones, Ph.D., president of Stark State College. “Stark State is a supporting member of the Innovation Fund, and we’re very pleased Tesla NanoCoatings received a startup grant. This funding will assist them in further commercializing their groundbreaking corrosion control coating, and we look forward to their success.”

Hawkins established Tesla NanoCoatings in 2007. The company currently has five employees, and Hawkins anticipates bringing on additional employees by the end of the year.


Source:  Todd Hawkins, Para Jones
Writer: Lynne Meyer

The University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) is expanding their 3-D print-manufacturing program thanks to $3 million in funding awarded from the Ohio Third Frontier earlier this month.
 
The program, which runs for three years, gives UDRI the capability to start a new line of research, says Program Manager Brian Rice. “Specifically, the technology we’re focused on is something called Fused Deposition Modeling [FDM],” an additive manufacturing technology primarily used for prototyping. But Rice and his team’s interest in the technology is to produce actual functional parts for aerospace and automobile companies, like GE and Honda.
 
Explains Rice, “Let’s say, for example, one of our partners is GE Aircraft Engines. Just on a commercial engine, there might be 400 to 500 unique parts that each part would require tooling if they were going to produce it by injection molding or something. And so, the key is they can produce these unique parts with no tooling.” He goes on to explain a very near future where companies can key up three-dimensional parts on a computer and simply print it.
 
Although the technology exists in some facets, it will take time to approve large-scale FDM manufacturing for planes and cars. “When you’re putting something on an airplane or car where human safety is a concern, it takes longer to develop the technology, because it has to go through all sorts of material testing.” But the wait, Rice says, will be worth it.
 
“You take your car into the shop and they don’t have the part,” he explains, describing another scenario. “Well, in the future you might be able to just call the part up from a computer file and print it right there,” saving the consumer weeks in shipping and delivery. “We’re not there today, but that’s where the future will be.”


Source: Brian Rice
Writer: Joe Baur