Carnegie Mellon U Launches 3D Printing Initiative

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 08/02/16

A new consortium at Carnegie Mellon University will bring together researchers and representatives from industry, government and professional associations to collaborate on initiatives in the field of 3D printing, otherwise known as "additive manufacturing."

The initiative will influence the work being done at the university's NextManufacturing Center, a research division within the institution's college of engineering. Among the corporate participants are GE, Alcoa and United States Steel. Government is represented by the Federal Aviation Administration and the United States Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory. Also participating is SAE International, an association of engineers and related technical experts.

The center draws faculty and students not only from the college of engineering but also the school of computer science and college of science. The multidisciplinary approach is applied to projects in order to develop new ways of thinking about 3D printing for mainstream manufacturing and creating new tools and processes.

The emphasis on collaborative efforts is to pull together all the key players "to share knowledge, ideas and challenges," said Jack Beuth, director of the center and professor of mechanical engineering, in an article about the consortium. "It's an integral part of creating a thriving additive manufacturing ecosystem, and today, we get do that here at Carnegie Mellon."

"Collaborating across disciplines and with outside companies has been a huge reason that we have been able to deliver such impactful results here," added Anthony Rollett, professor of materials science and engineering and associate director of the center. "These collaborations will not only ensure that our research directly targets real-world problems, but that real-world problems directly influence our research."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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