MANSFIELD, PA— With the use of a new technology, the Mansfield University Department of Geosciences is doing groundbreaking work that will help Tioga County, PA planners prepare for the future.
Using a 3D printer, purchased with funding from the Tioga County Commissioners, Geosciences students, led by senior Jonathan Bagg (Corning, NY), and Assistant Professors Andy Shears and Lee Stocks are mapping Tioga County and the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon in 3D.
Instead of producing images on a sheet of paper, like a regular map, a 3D printer goes beyond an image on paper and brings the object to life in a real 3D model, replicating landscape and terrain in detail layer by layer. 
The work being done at MU will allow county planners to study flood plains and other areas of concern in detail never available before as well as other planning uses.
“3D printing is a largely unexplored realm in mapping, and this provides our students with an opportunity to be on the cutting edge,”Shears said. “This new opportunity would not be possible without the support and foresight of the Tioga County Commissioners and the Tioga County GIS Department. The mapping we’re now able to do should pay dividends for the 
County by being able to plan more accurately and the educational value of using this technology is tremendous for our students.”
Shears foresees several uses for the 3D printer and mapping technology being developed on campus and surrounding area.
“What we are doing here at Mansfield is truly groundbreaking,” Shears said. “Just about every day our students are coming up with new ideas on how to use this technology. It is a very exciting time in the world of mapping and geosciences.”