East Hartford, Conn. – Standing apart in a separate section of the United Technologies Research Center’s East Hartford campus, the Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC), run by the non-profit Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT), is a unique applied research and development resource for regional manufacturers.

On Feb. 7, more than 45 students and professors from the NVCC Advanced Manufacturing program had the opportunity to tour the facility and get a first-hand look at what technology is currently being used in the manufacturing field.

CCAT frequently holds tours and workshops to showcase its three laboratories and state-of-the-art machines and to explain how the organization helps manufacturers increase productivity and gain a competitive edge in today’s global market.

NVCC’s visit was funded by the Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing (RCNGM), a National Science Foundation Center of Excellence.

Throughout the day, students saw demonstrations of 5-axis machining, adaptive machining, EDM (electric discharge machining), additive manufacturing, laser processing and structured light scanning.

“Our students can pursue many career paths in manufacturing companies when they graduate,” said Anthony DiFederico, business and industry manufacturing instructor at NVCC.

“We wanted to introduce students to how things are changing and have them see the manufacturing technology being used in the industry today. At CCAT’s AMC, students were able to see the type of work done on lathes, mills, EDM and three-dimensional machines.”

The AMC readily serves as a resource for technology transfer to manufacturers and houses three application laboratories: Machining (MAL), Laser (LAL), and Modeling & Simulation (M&SL). Training and custom work is performed on 3- and 5-axis mill and mill/turn machines in the MAL, industrial lasers in the LAL, and advanced modeling and simulation work is conducted using custom software applications and scanning/metrology equipment in the M&SL. To ensure that CCAT is the go-to resource and best practices partner for manufacturers, equipment in the AMC is frequently updated to offer customers the latest in manufacturing technology.

“The tour opened the students eyes as to how much things have changed in manufacturing,” said DiFederico. “They saw how clean, bright and advanced the work is and learned that the old image of manufacturing as a dirty job is no longer true today.”

For more information, contact Karen Jarmon, communications advisor for CCAT: 860-282-4211; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. (CCAT),headquartered in East Hartford, Conn., is a unique economic development organization that combines expertise in cutting-edge manufacturing technology with specialized centers of excellence in education, workforce strategy and alternative energy solutions to help organizations increase efficiencies, improve workforce development and boost competitiveness. CCAT promotes partnerships between industry, academia and government to create a new collaborative framework for tackling 21^stcentury economic challenges.

The Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing (RCNGM), a National Science Foundation Center of Excellence, addresses the need for highly skilled workers in the new manufacturing workplace by building programs that provide resources to educators and students interested in learning new technologies in manufacturing. The Center is directed by ConnSCU’s Connecticut  College of Technology (COT), a collaborative organization representing engineering and technology career pathways that include all 12 Connecticut community colleges and their manufacturing centers, and six partner universities, including the CT State Universities, UCONN, University of Hartford, University of New Have, and Fairfield University.