Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Stefano Alva, director of operations for Vitruvian, shows the Scorpion Contrete 3D printer to Bengeo George from the University of Cincinnati at the Advanced Manufacturing eXpo Tuesday at Eastwood Event Centre.

NILES — Layer by layer, additive manufacturing has built the Mahoning Valley’s reputation as a leader and innovator while serving as a magnet for opportunity.

The Youngstown Business Incubator spotlighted the industry during its first Advanced Manufacturing User eXpo at the Eastwood Event Centre on Tuesday. More than 200 representatives from business, industry, government, economic development and academia attended.

“We wanted to have a showcase event to highlight the work that we do to make manufacturers more competitive,” YBI’s CEO Barb Ewing said.

Ewing said the incubator’s expertise benefits anyone from early-stage companies developing new technologies to industries adopting advanced manufacturing technologies.

“There are a lot of small-to-medium manufacturers out there that are doing really incredible things already in defense and aerospace, and we have the opportunity to help elevate them and also get more teams on the field real quick,” she said.

In simplest terms, additive manufacturing involves the creation of a 3D object — building by layers — using a specialized printer. The American Society for Testing Materials points out seven methods to accomplish that task.

“A lot of what we do is additive manufacturing, which is kind of the opposite of what traditional manufacturing is, which is you’re taking away, you’re extruding,” said Rory Kale, YBI program support coordinator. “Additive is adding layer by layer. You’re building a product up, instead of building a product by taking away. So that’s kind of what additive manufacturing is.”

Panel discussions, demonstrations and networking were featured. Among the topics were the Industrial Internet of Things; additive manufacturing with polymers; 3D-printed sand core applications; funding and research-and-development programs; and the Youngstown Innovation Hub for Defense and Aerospace.

“Youngstown is at a very unique place — with America Makes being on our campus, with all the growth we’ve had with the innovation hub — to really be at the helm of the next generation of manufacturing,” Kale said.

Scientists representing NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense attended the expo, Ewing said.

“Right now, the Department of Defense is very focused on rebuilding the U.S. supply chain for the military, because they understand that a nation that doesn’t make its own defense mechanisms is at risk,” she said. “So they are working very hard to reshore U.S. manufacturing.

Generational-type of wealth will be created the same way you saw it during World War II. Additive manufacturing, as a technology, lends itself to the type of manufacturing that you need for defense and aerospace applications.”

Ewing said NASA and the Department of Defense chose the incubator to launch a new manufacturing process because of the services the Youngstown-based organization offers.

“They could go anywhere,” Ewing said. “But because of the introductions we’ve been able to make — and the facility and all of the services that we offer — they want to be here.”

Additive manufacturing will have a long-term presence locally, Kale said.

“The cost of everything is just going up,” he said. “A way we can stay competitive is by doing it quicker, easier here with additive manufacturing, so we can now actually start to compete with companies overseas. And this is, it’s just the best way to go about bringing manufacturing back to America.”