Design for AM Metals : 2-Day Virtual Conference

Turning Designs into Reality, with Metal with the UK Design for AM Network.

Dec 09, 2022

Tuesday 13th & Wednesday 14th December 2022

13:30-17:00 GMT

Register Online

The Design for AM Metals theme event will be streamed live online.

The event will have an industrial theme and will bring together feedstock manufacturers, test data & research outputs alongside end users and application guidance.

The reason for an industrial and academic shared event is to build on the Design for AM networks ethos of a community. Working shoulder to shoulder to support AM growth, development, and collaboration on UK shores and with shared opportunities globally.

All areas come with a core theme to openly discuss how academia and industry can better address and overcome issues.

The guest speakers on the day are expected to be:

1. Duann Scott – Director of the 3MF Consortium. Duann will be taking a lead in discussing file format and the benefits in metal AM of the 3MF.

2. Jimmy Campbell – CTO of Plastometrex. Plastometrex are an indentation plastometry provider with a revolutionary and low cost method of create stress strain curves in minutes with the need for standard samples.

3. John E. Barnes – Founder & CEO of The Barnes Global Advisors and Metal Powder Works. Metal Powder Works invented and own an alternate powder production method allowing almost any commercially available material to be turned into powder to be used in AM.

4. Nick Weeks – General Manager of Carpenter Additive UK. Nick has extensive experience in powder production and will discuss the challenges and issues facing large scale AM powder production.

5. Ian Brooks – Technical Director at Additure. A UK service provider of parts and knowledge from their SLM Solutions & Gefertec machines. Ian brings a wealth of application examples, pitfalls and advice to the event.

6. Richard Mincher – Founder of FORG3D. Building on the incredible robotic AM capability created and operated out of the GlenAlmond Group Richard has moved this AM capability into a new venture. FORG3D will aim to service the growing need for multiple supplies or minimal material waste requests for large, currently forged, parts across aerospace, space, oil & gas and automotive industries.

7. Jason Gilmore – AM Expert Airbus Defence & Space. Jason brings a wealth of AM experience and has been responsible for putting AM parts into space for over 10 years.

The speakers will all bring their own experiences, challenges, and thoughts to what is to be a great event. The event runs from 13:30-17:00 GMT on both days to allow a worldwide audience to have easy access. However, for those unable to dial in do not despair as the event will be recorded and made available for access on the UK Design for AM network YouTube channel after the event and core outputs of the conversation will be shared on the various contributors social media pages.

Full details can be found via the UK Design for AM Network.

The Design for AM Network is a UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) funded network run by Loughborough & Lancaster Universities. The network funding comes via the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) which is one of the UKRI core funding streams. The aim of the network is to create a community of like-minded individuals and organisations, including academic researchers, students, industrialists, policy makers and others with an interest in the technology area of Design for AM. Collectively the network and its membership aspire to create a culture of collaboration and unified goal setting in the field of Design for AM. The network is home to over 400 members from across academia and industry with a worldwide following.

Dr Patrick Pradel is a lecturer in Product Design and a member of the Digital Design & Fabrication research group at the Loughborough University School of Design and Creative Arts. Since 2008 he has been interested in the intricate relationship between Digital Fabrication and Product Design and he has collaborated on several projects in this area. Currently, Patrick is Principal Investigator for the EPSRC Design for Additive Manufacturing Network. Patrick had the following to say:

“ The UK Design for AM Network aims at bringing together the internationally leading, but disparate UK Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) research community and providing a coherent single point of access to DfAM research for other research disciplines, industries and governmental agencies. Robert’s event, Design for AM Metals – Turning Designs into Reality, is a timely event that intends to uncover the gaps and needs in metal AM from the point of view of the UK industry. Three more UK Design for AM events are planned for 2023, Design for 4D Printing, Design for Polymer AM, and the 17th Rapid Design Prototyping & Manufacturing Conference.”

The final network workshop for 2022 considers the topic of design for AM in the context of metals. Following on from a successful ‘Responsible Design for AM’ theme in September 2022, attention has turned to a new theme lead, this time under the leadership of Robert Higham. Robert heads up a new initiative at the University of Bolton called the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing (CfAM). Based in the Northwest of England in Greater Manchester, Bolton has an engineering heritage dating back almost 200 years. This relatively small university in recent times has looked for agile and niche offerings with the CfAM taking pride as the latest initiative. Robert Higham heads up the CfAM and builds on this with his extensive background in AM qualification of metal powders, parts and processes in commercial aerospace. Bringing an industrial perspective to this academic unit is core to the CfAM strategy. Here the CfAM aims to provide the following three core items:

1. Education – specific training, development, and education in the field of advanced manufacturing. Targeting ing live projects, industrial collaborations, and professional registration this education aims to be pedagogically unique in its approach to focus on industry ready outputs.

2. Access – an industry standard facility and equipment greets partners of the CfAM with powder testing, variety of polymer and metal AM capability, a machine shop, and an aerospace grade suite of test equipment the CfAM is an operational AM lab for hire. Providing access without barriers of cost will promote innovation and growth in the UK AM community.

3. Collaboration – aiming to answer the “what if” questions and sharing openly the CfAM will provide data, comment, thoughts, and findings openly. “To put it simply the CfAM wants technology to win and to do that we need to help and nurture it by sharing and progressing collectively” says Robert.