Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 23 O C T O B E R 2 0 , 2 0 2 5 F O C U S M A N U FA C T U R I N G / I N T E R N AT I O N A L T R A D E of equipment and a staff of eight, most coming from industry, who work with startups, small businesses and estab- lished manufacturers through prototyp- ing, design and fabrication. e center provides applied learning experiences for undergraduate and graduate students and for professionals. Programs include micro credentials, factory-authorized training, college and high school hiring and even a high school summer camp built on a cobot curriculum that resulted in programmer certification. "It's a great opportunity for a high school student who's interested in engineering to get a real taste of what engineering and what working in manu- facturing is like," says Forest Wentworth, associate director of projects. ere are precision CNC machines, fabrication labs, prototyping capabilities and cobots. Large multi-axis machines can cut parts from all directions. ree- dimensional printers are equipped with spools of plastic, plant-based and metal materials in climate-controlled cabi- nets. ere are laser scanning, cutting and welding systems; a press brake that bends hefty pieces of metal like butter; and the type of equipment — bandsaws, table saws — common to any workshop. Projects recently on the shop floor include a machine that speeds the pro- duction of catnip pouches for a specialty company. Bales of catnip and colorful pouches await tests near a machine that includes a hopper, dosing head and auger. Instead of manually filling the bags, the company can fill the hopper, put the pouch under a nozzle and step on a pedal. "ey wanted assistance figuring out what type of equipment to buy and help them set it up," says Belding. Work is underway to update a mecha- nized blueberry raker and a machine that staples bags to collect farmed oysters. A small machine shop in Bangor tapped the center's laser-cutting capa- bilities to cut parts. Long-time partnership Early in their relationship, the center assisted Compotech in transitioning from the manual production of armor panels, with thousands produced each year, to an automated process. "It speeds production. It optimized the cycle time, from when we load in the panels until we take final product out," says Melrose. "e automated comput- erized process allowed our engineers to identify where we could reduce cycle time on different steps to increase our factories output. e system does an excellent job logging and maintaining production data for our factory. e center worked with Compotech to design the automation systems, built C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Consigli Construction Co., Inc. Construction Managers & General Contractors | consigli.com Building Maine's Most Complex Projects LEARN MORE University of Maine GEM Factory of the Future Rendering Credit: SMRT & Grimshaw Architects P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R Laser cutting machine at the University of Maine's Advanced Manufacturing Center. Make new connections with the Lewiston/Auburn business community! PRESEN T ING SP ONSOR REGIONAL SP ONSORS HORS D'OEUVRES / CASH BAR / NETWORKING WITH AREA BUSINESS EXECUTIVES S PACE IS S PACE IS L IMITED L IMITED, BE S URE TO , BE S URE TO R EG IS TER! R EG IS TER! Please register ahead at www.mainebiz.biz/OTRLA25 LEWISTON/AUBURN N O V E M B E R 1 9 / 4 – 6 P M / H I LT O N G A RDE N I N N AU B U R N RI V E RWAT C H

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