factory opened in November 1994 as an initiative of the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering's Department of Industrial Engineering that offers technical assistance and educational resources to the academic and industrial community of Western Pennsylvania. It also serves as an incubator for manufacturing innovation and as a center for technology transfer. The MAC provides access to advanced manufacturing technology, encourages its adoption, and assists in training and educating students in its use. The center comprises a synergistic network of laboratories encompassing machine tooling, computer-aided design and manufacturing, metrology, materials tracking, and human issues. The MAC began following a 1990 survey of 550 Western Pennsylvania manufacturers by the Department of Industrial Engineering that revealed the need for manufacturing support services in this part of the state. In response a concept of shared manufacturing was created by Pitt School of Engineering professors Dr. Bopaya Bidanda and Dr. David I. Cleland, and a proposal describing how the MAC would meet this need resulted in a $2.3 million grant from the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The center's purpose is to provide research and educational support to the University of Pittsburgh, as well as to provide small and mid-sized manufacturers of Western Pennsylvania with the tools to compete in the global marketplace. As such, area manufacturers can receive demonstrations on new equipment and manufacturing processes, perform pilot manufacturing, and conduct limited production utilizing the resources available in the MAC labs. In addition to these services, the MAC also provides training on computer numerical control (CNC) machining, computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM), plus a variety of other concepts, such as materials requirements planning, total quality management, and team development, that are utilized by modern manufacturing organizations. Working in partnership with private industry, the MAC is part of the development of the regional RoboCorridor, promoting automation and agile robotics. The MAC's of available space contains a working factory, classrooms, and administration offices and supplies secure space for startup companies wishing to access its facilities. The factory has a 5-ton and a 1-ton overhead crane, a loading dock, 220 and 480 volt 3-phase power, a paint room, and welding booths. The space is subdivided into classrooms, a conference room, a computer laboratory designed for CAD/CAM training, offices and training areas for manual, welding training, and CNC and EDM machine tool and precision grinding training. The facility