Carpenter Technology Corp. announced plans to add an Emerging Technology Center on its Athens, Ala., campus. The facility will initially focus on additive-manufacturing (AM) technology development, with future investments slated for meltless titanium powder and soft magnetics. The company expects to invest $52 million in the Emerging Technology Center, which will create approximately 60 jobs over the next five years and is expected to open in approximately 12 months.

Carpenter’s 500,000-square-foot Alabama manufacturing facility, which opened in 2014, produces high-end specialty-alloy products primarily for the aerospace and energy markets. The Athens site was later expanded to produce superalloy powders used in applications including jet-engine disks and 3D-printed aircraft-engine components.

According to Carpenter, the Emerging Technology Center is where it will develop and implement solutions ranging from new alloys to revolutionary 3D-printed parts. The investment is aligned with the company’s business strategy of becoming a complete end-to-end solutions provider in the AM area.