Ohio university's 'Pizza ATM' cooks and dispenses pies on demand

CINCINNATI, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- An Ohio university unveiled a new arrival on campus: a "Pizza ATM" that cooks and dispenses pizzas on demand.

Xavier University in Cincinnati announced the Pizza ATM installed at Fenwick Hall allows students to use credit cards, debit cards or student IDs loaded with money to purchase pizzas that are then cooked on demand for three minutes at 500 degrees.

The pizzas are then placed in boxes and dispensed through a slot in the machine.

"It can store 70 pizzas at any one given time," Jude Kiah, an assistant vice president at Xavier University, told WKRC-TV.

"We were looking for a way to solve this problem of having a late-night pizza option on campus," Kiah told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "This meets our students where they're at in their residence hall."

Alec Verlin, president of Paline, said Xavier's Pizza ATM is the first in the country.

"It's exciting first of all. It's challenging a little bit because we have to adapt the machine," Verlin said.

"We like the idea of being first and innovative and trying something new," Kiah said. "There's one Pizza ATM in the U.S. and this is it."

A 12-inch diameter medium pizza costs $9 from the machine.

"I'll tell you what," a university spokesman said. "The pizza vending machine is hot."