Summit focuses on advances in manufacturing

ManufactureNJ Talent Network and the New Jersey Innovation Institute teamed up to curate the Additive & Advanced Manufacturing Industry Summit on Tuesday at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.In a statement, Raymond Vaccari, director of ManufactureNJ Talent Network, said the partnership helps “to provide both practical and theoretical information about additive manufacturing, (as) ManufactureNJ Talent Network and New Jersey Innovation Institute hope to accelerate additive manufacturing’s adaption as a means of continuing to help this industry sector to thrive in New Jersey.”

At the event, speakers observed recent technological advances in manufacturing, identified the issues that arose and prognosticated as to potential directions for the industry.

Speakers looked at the impact these advances were having in the military, academic and private industry fields.

Jim Allen, president of New York City-based Voodoo Manufacturing, spoke on how 3D printing was changing the landscape of manufacturing. In his speech, he mentioned how his company was employing robotics, automation and software to enhance the 3D manufacturing process.

But that doesn’t mean the company is cutting jobs.

“In many ways, I look at automation and software as enablers,” he said. “In our case, this is creating jobs: I’m able to hire people with a high school diploma or, at most, an associate’s degree that may have taken a (computer-aided design), course and that’s all I need to run this factory.”

It also creates the need for engineers, much like the ones that graduate from NJIT.

“I also need engineers to program the robots and run the factory itself,” he said. “So, I’m covering a continuum of positions.”

Other speakers included Amos Dudley, NJIT alumnus and applications engineer at Formlabs, and John Federici, a professor in the NJIT Physics Department.