Oct 30, 2017
The Government of South Australia is providing a AU$1.4 million grant to the University of Adelaide to establish the Additive Manufacturing Applied Research Network. The new facility will create jobs and enable many advanced manufacturing projects in defence, medical devices, dental prostheses and injection moulding to be undertaken in Adelaide.
The University of Adelaide’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing and Optofab Australian National Fabrication Facility, together with the Stretton Centre in northern Adelaide and CSIRO’s Lab 22 additive manufacturing centre will establish the applied research network as a state-of-the-art, metal additive manufacturing facility.
The metal 3D printing facility will be based in Northern Adelaide and will house three 3D printers – one of which will be solely used and accredited for medical device manufacturing. The facility will be the only metal additive manufacturing center in Australia that’s available to companies on a commercial basis.
The network will also involve the establishment of a plastics 3D printing facility at the City of Playford’s Stretton Centre, Munno Para.
Access to the 3D printing technology will remove significant cost pressures and barriers for local manufacturers and several local companies have already sought access to the new facility. It will also provide businesses with a new tool to undertake research, product development and validation testing.
Manufacturing and Innovation Minister, Kyam Maher, said, “The success of transforming the South Australian economy depends on our ability to adapt to new ways of doing things and establish advanced technologies to build globally competitive, high-value firms. Having the University of Adelaide support innovation in industries such as defence and health allows for better collaboration and fresh thinking and really helps promote our state as a world-leader in advanced and additive manufacturing.”
“This facility has been born out of three years’ work by the University’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing and the Optofab Australian National Fabrication Facility. Clients who use our current small 3D metal printing facility have had to go overseas to get access to larger printers for manufacture of products,” added Professor Julie Owens, the University of Adelaide Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research).
CSIRO Deputy Director Manufacturing, Dr. Cathy Foley commented, “Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, creates enormous opportunities for innovative products to be developed, creating new business models and jobs growth in Australia. In addition to improving lives with next generation medical implants, the success of CSIRO’s Lab 22 has shown that making metal additive manufacturing more accessible for industry provides them with the tools to differentiate themselves, grow and get ahead of global competitors.”
Posted in 3D Printer Company
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