As manufacturers try to recruit young people, they would love to capture the attention of students like Evan Brooks.

“Ever I since I was little, we would play with the Fisher-Price toys and I was that kid who would always wonder, ‘How did they make this?’ ” Brooks said.

Now the Hutchinson Technical High School senior is applying his curiosity to the 3D printers inside a new learning laboratory at Buffalo Manufacturing Works. “I’ve been waiting four years to get into a program like this,” he said. “This is where the future’s going, additive manufacturing. To be involved with something like this, it’s really going to influence our future.”

That is music to the ears of manufacturers. For years, they have tried to dispel the image of a sector with dim job prospects and unpleasant working conditions. The lab exposes students to possibilities they might not have pictured, before they head off to college and choose a career path.

Read more about how 3D printing fits into the wider Buffalo Manufacturing Works initiative.