Ingersoll Machine Tools - ROCKFORD'S INVENTORS CLUB

Dr. Jeff Ahrstrom, CEO of Ingersoll Machine Tool, gets fired up when talking about all the cool things his company does.

Ingersoll is a supplier of machine tools. Their creations include five-axis milling machines and large 3D printers for the aerospace industry, equipment for NASA, wings for a Boeing 787, and large telescopes for astronomy research.

Ingersoll has won numerous industry awards and was named the Rockford Chamber’s manufacturer of the year in 2020. In 2019, the Guinness Book of World Records certified that Ingersoll produced the world’s largest 3D printer, named MasterPrint, which was installed at the University of Maine.

“We’ve always been on the leading edge when it comes to manufacturing advancement,” Ahrstrom said.

Recently, Ingersoll scored another distinction when its Rosenberg Moon Habitat won the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association’s “Makers Madness – The Coolest Thing Made in Illinois” contest.

The habitat is a three-story, 3D printed living space made to house a crew of two for up to 90 days. It was designed by students at the Institut auf dem Rosenberg in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and printed by Ingersoll’s MasterPrint 3D printer. At 23 feet, it’s the world’s tallest single-piece, 3D printed polymer structure. Each of the six panels took 14 hours to print, and the entire project took nine months to complete.

Last year, Ingersoll expanded its manufacturing plant in Rockford –the same location that has housed the company since 1892. Many of Ingersoll’s 200 employees have worked there for decades. And the manufacturer is still growing.

“I’m proud of the cool things we do,” Ahrstrom said. “And the best part is we’re doing it right here in Rockford.”