New York state will invest $125 million to build the world’s first industrial-scale 3D printing facility as part of a private-public partnership with Norway’s Norsk Titanium AS, according to sources familiar with the deal.

A groundbreaking for the plant is expected in late October or November in Plattsburgh, New York, about 160 miles north of the state capital of Albany, said the sources, who could not speak publicly before an announcement by the state.

They said the plant is slated to be fully operational by the end of 2016 when it will be able to “print” large components for aircraft manufacturers and weapons makers at much lower cost than current technologies. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is used to build 3D objects by adding layers of material, such as plastic, metal or concrete.

Norsk Titanium, also known as NTi, declined comment. No comment was immediately available from SUNY Polytechnic Institute, the New York university that will manage the program.Read more

Source: Reuters; image: Norsk Titanium