04/14/2026
Independent Steel & Machine was happy to provide rigging services to MO S&T and move in place robotic welding machines and protective barriers in the Protoplex. An absolute magnificent building and program!
On top of a hill overlooking Interstate 44 in Rolla sits a new, 117,000-square-foot building.
This building that's bigger than two football fields is the Protoplex, and it has an equally large goal — to be the center of an effort to bring manufacturing back to rural Missouri.
The Protoplex is filled with manufacturing equipment, labs and even a foundry. Missouri University of Science and Technology, the state and other partners intend it to bring a modern approach to manufacturing to the campus and the entire region by giving companies a space to try out new manufacturing processes before they build their own facilities when they outgrow rented space.
“The Protoplex shortens the path for innovation to validation to production to customer delivery,” said Dhiraj Pisal, who leads venture incubation efforts at Massachusetts-based Solvus Global.
Read more: https://www.stlpr.org/economy-business/2026-04-13/protoplex-rolla-manufacturing-rural-missouri
