BizMANUFACTURING
Model of Industry
Pima Community College Raises Beams on New Advanced Manufacturing Building By Loni Nannini Pima Community College is taking advanced manufacturing to the next level, literally and figuratively, with the start of construction on Phase 3 of the Center for Excellence in Applied Technology. At the Downtown Campus the beams were raised this past fall for the Advanced Manufacturing Building, which features nearly 100,000 square feet of space on three levels with state-of-theart equipment and learning spaces. Slated to finish later this year, the project has a budget of approximately $35 million. It is the hub of the Centers of Excellence, which includes a 45,000-square-foot Auto Technology facility, a 60,000-square-foot Science and Technology Building and the re122 BizTucson
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Winter 2022
cently expanded Aviation Technology Center. “The Advanced Manufacturing Building is a working model of how industry operates,” said Greg Wilson, PCC dean of applied technology. “Our goal is to produce a ready-skilled workforce for industry that builds the local economy, and this building reinforces that mission. We know that our industry partners are desperate for folks with skills, and this building allows us to stay current and to follow – and perhaps even to help drive – industry trends.” Students can gain first-hand experience through programs in machine tool, welding, automation/robotics and computer aided design. The facility features a Flexible Industry Training (FIT)
Lab, which will provide learning space where local industry can network with PCC to up-skill and re-skill employees and students, and a 10-ton gantry train that utilizes “Smart Crane” technology to deliver heavy and large materials directly from flatbed trucks to specified areas throughout the facility. “There is also an Idea Lab, which is a ‘maker space,’ if you will, on the first floor for students and faculty to collaborate and bring ideas to fruition,” Wilson said. “The Advanced Manufacturing Building will also feature an Optics and Photonics Lab developed in partnership with Optics Valley, the world-class businesses and institutions hub in Tucson that provides research, services and products in optics, photonics and aswww.BizTucson.com
