The University’s Louisiana Business and Technology Center hosted a launch party Wednesday for its new prototyping center at LSU Innovation Park.
“Protostripes: Where Tigers Make Their Mark” allows tenants in the business incubator, student incubator and Baton Rouge area to make low-cost prototypes using a 3-D printer.
The center contains advanced equipment that LBTC received in August 2014. Its 3-D printer can print hard plastic versions of prototypes.
LBTC Executive Director Charles F. D’Agostino said the idea for the center was born at the Incubator after businesses complained about how expensive outside prototyping prices were.
“We all sat down and made the decision to raise the money to get the hardware and software for the center in place,” D’Agostino said. “We have MBA graduate students and a fifth-year engineering student involved in the program.”
LBTC received a grant from the Department of Economic Development and the Louisiana Business Incubation Association to fund the new center. The center plans to continue adding equipment with additional funding from other sources. The next piece of equipment will be a laser printer, D’Agostino said.
Before businesses will be allowed to use the prototyping center, they must go through the business incubator. After meeting with a counselor for planning and confirming the product looks like a viable prototype, the business may meet with staff to make its prototype.
University students were involved in the process of creating the center. LBTC communications specialist and mass communication senior Hayley Amoss created the protoyping center’s name.
“We were trying to come up with a name related to the product and LSU,” Amoss said. “I came up with Protostripes in the middle of the night.”
Fifth-year engineering student Vincenzo Tomassi has worked with LBTC since August and has worked with 3-D printers since his freshman year.
“The incubators are allowing small businesses to grow with LSU,” Tomassi said. “People are coming in with prototype ideas, and if they can find a manufacturer, then it bridges the gap to manufacturing,” Student incubator director Kenneth Anderson said the student incubator is reaping benefits from Protostripes beyond discounted student use.
“Protostripes might be the best marking tool we ever had,” Anderson said. “Traditionally, we have a lot of business students come through the incubator, but we are aiming to include engineering students as well, and this is a way to do that.”
Protostripes manager Matthew Higgins said the center gets an accurate build on the prototype mold the first time, which saves businesses time and money.
“The center represents a monumental shift in technology by shrinking the amount of time and risk it takes in making a prototype,” Higgins said. “It allows people to go from months to days in making a prototype.”

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Sam Karlin

The Louisiana Business & Technology Center hosted a launch party for their innovations in engineering and business on Wednesday, September 10th, 2014.