YBI and America Makes launch national innovation competition

YOUNGSTOWN

The Youngstown Business Incubator and America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, are once again putting Youngstown on the map.

The two, along with the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, have launched a $100,000 national competition to find innovative start-up ideas for additive manufacturing/3-D printing.

“It is right in line with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology competition,” said Rich Wetzel, additive manufacturing business coordinator for the YBI. “That is pretty big for Youngstown.”

Additive manufacturing is the process of joining materials to make objects from 3-D model data.

There are a couple of reasons why the competition was started. It was recommended by the University Business Incubator Index, which named the YBI the No. 1 university-affiliated incubator in the world, because it will increase the amount of start up companies coming into the YBI.

The competition will also help to examine areas of additive manufacturing technology in need of improvement.

“We are also looking to promote STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math] in Youngstown,” Wetzel said.

The submissions for the competition will close Aug. 14. The focus for the competition is on additive manufacturing, but submissions can also be anything that aligns with the Ohio Third Frontier Commission. Ohio Third Frontier provides funding to Ohio technology-based companies, universities, nonprofit research institutions, and other organizations to create new technology-based products, companies, industries, and jobs.

After the Aug. 14 submission, no more than seven finalists will come to Youngstown to present their ideas to a panel on Nov. 2.

“Entrepreneurs are expected to pursue this business and become a part of YBI and expect to make the business grow,” Wetzel said.

For more information visit ybi.org/amped/.