What is the AMC?
As previously stated, the Advanced Manufacturing Center is a subset of the University of Maine College of Engineering. The following excerpts are from an article written by Nick Houtman of UMaineToday for the December 2001/January 2002 edition of the magazine. They provide a good overview of what the program is about and how it came into being...
...The result of more than 90 meetings between UMaine and Maine manufacturing companies, the AMC is at the dawn of its own growth. "In 2000 and 2001, we traveled the state and asked companies how the university could help them. Their answer was a one-stop shop from concept to something that can be manufactured," says Scott Dunning, AMC executive director. "We are not here to compete with the private sector. We are a unique niche resource for the state, a rapid response center for new product development."Machine shops "can’t make money making one of anything ... when clients come to us with a request that we make multiples of the same product, we hand them a list of shops that do that work."
...The benefits of such a service are clear to Dean of Engineering Larryl Matthews. “In order for manufacturers to engage in innovation, they have to divert part of their resources away from production. That raises barriers to their ability to enter new markets. The AMC is all about lowering those barriers and enabling manufacturers to solve problems and become more competitive,” says Matthews.
...Students involved in these projects receive more than a paycheck, says Dunning. “We want to graduate students who have an entrepreneurial vision. They may start by fabricating parts under supervision, but by the time they’re seniors, they may be running projects on their own. Plus they’ll have experience on industrial-grade equipment. They’ll have practical experience with project management, teamwork and business, in addition to technical skills.”
