A new USC center is bringing advanced manufacturing to smaller companies

Layer by metal layer, a complex component began to take shape with the help of an additive manufacturing machine -- known as a 3-D printer to most people -- and a clutch of USC engineering students at the region's newest center devoted to building better stuff and creating jobs. The part was being made for a Southern California company that was trying out an improved design but didn't have the machinery to produce something involving complicated shapes and angles. "We looked at the geometry and said'we should be able to,' and we printed it for them," said Satyandra K. Gupta, a USC professor and director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing. The collaboration with the company, which had asked Gupta for complete secrecy to avoid tipping off competitors, was one of the first for the Center for Advanced Manufacturing. The facility opened in February as part of a $253-million Defense Department-sponsored consortium of dozens of corporations, schools, nonprofits and local governments around the country.