GE Additive, Cincinnati, Ohio, announces that it will collaborate with Oerlikon, Sweden; Linde, Guildford, U.K.; and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), to create an additive manufacturing cluster in Bavaria. This cluster is a grouping of companies and organizations that will conduct research on and develop additive manufacturing technology from a single hub location.
The collaborative efforts will help integrate AM into the manufacturing process and enable companies to use the technology in their production. The open cluster includes an academic institution (TUM) that will do research and develop education courses on AM. The cluster will be open to additional participants in the future.
As one of the first initiatives enabled by the AM cluster, Oerlikon and TUM are creating a new research institute. The Additive Manufacturing Institute will focus on interdisciplinary research in raw material powders, optimized AM production, and end-to-end process integration, including automation and AM digitalization.
Oerlikon engineers and scientists will work with researchers and students at various TUM faculties, mainly mechanical engineering, but also chemical engineering, the physics department, and informatics. They will address all aspects of AM research and production. This will include the verification and qualification of products and the development of new AM business models.
Like the cluster, the research institute will also be open for research cooperation with academia and industry once the initial frameworks have been established. The aim is to broaden the international network and encourage an architecture of open partnership.
