For Immediate Release:

Contact:
Alesa Martin, Director of Institutional Marketing
West Virginia University Institute of Technology and
The Community and Technical College at WVU Tech
Phone: 304.442.1005 ● Fax: 304.442.3052
Email: alesa.martin@mail.wvu.edu

 

Prototypes Produced on CTC @ WVU Tech Campus

Montgomery, WV—The Computerized Drafting and Design Department in the Community and Technical College at WVU Tech recently created the first prototypes for commercial use with the newly acquired 3-dimensional printer. The Dimension BST 768, which was installed on campus in February, was used to produce four prototype parts for NGK Sparkplugs (USA), Inc. in Sissonville, West Virginia. 

Bill Javins, Chair of the department, said, “This is a real milestone for our department. Not only does this mark our entry into serving a design need for industry partners, but this new technology allows us to move beyond merely creating virtual models in a computer, but lets those designs come to life as real parts.”  The parts produced by this technology are made out of ABS plastic and are used to verify designs before they are committed to mass production.

Davy Perdue, Production Senior Engineer at NGK Sparkplug, first discussed the possibility of teaming with the drafting department after seeing a demonstration of the prototyping technology at a recent advisory committee meeting hosted by the department. “Several uses came to mind as I watched the machine produce plastic parts. We (NGK) could use these quickly developed models to determine the functionality of various fixtures and holders that are used extensively in the production and testing of the oxygen sensors produced by NGK.” 

Perdue designed the four parts, e-mailed them to Javins, and Javins produced and delivered the finished prototypes to Perdue at the Sissonville facility of NGK. “We had the finished parts in merely days rather than months that we sometime experience using conventional machine shop services,” said Perdue. 

“We hope to be able to provide similar assistance to other companies throughout the state in the future. Those companies receive a valuable service, and their financial support helps us to maintain this new but rather costly technology,” Javins added.

Questions and comments can be directed to Bill Javins at 442-3317 or by e-mail at William.Javins@mail.wvu.edu.

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