DUBOIS-A partnership between Penn State DuBois and the University's new Center for Innovative Sintered Products has the potential to significantly impact the local region's powder metal industry, according to an official from the center.

Dr. Ronald G. Iacocca, associate director of the Penn State Center for Innovative Sintered Products (CISP), recently visited the DuBois campus and spoke to area engineers and industry leaders about the goals of the CISP and the DuBois campus' role in the center's four-part mission of research, education, outreach, and technology transfer.

Established this year, the CISP is working with local industries, schools, and organizations to serve the powder metal and particulate materials industry. Through the CISP, 30 Penn State faculty members are partnering with educational units such as Penn State DuBois, the Community Education Council of Elk and Cameron counties, and St. Marys Area High School to meet the needs of Pennsylvania-based industries. Currently, 90 industries are members of the CISP.

"Our mission is to put into the hands of Pennsylvania industry the tools it needs to maintain its eminent position in a growing global market," said

Dr. Iacocca. "To do this, we must be receptive to the needs of industry, and right now industry is telling us it wants to make products bigger and quicker. As a result, our research goal is to develop the technology to expand the design window and make sintered products that are more complex in shape and more precise, and that can be manufactured more quickly."

Sintering involves heating and/or compacting powdered materials to form precise solid shapes. The process produces high-quality, high-performance components at lower cost than traditional methods. In the United States, sintering is a $29 billion-plus business. Thirty to forty percent of the industry is concentrated in Pennsylvania's north central region. Products made by the sintering process include light bulb filaments, luxury watches, brackets for orthodontic appliances, ceramic bathroom fixtures, dinnerware, anti-aircraft projectiles, micro-miniature surgical tools, and a myriad of car parts, just to list a few.