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Rochester Institute of Technology’s AMPrint Center’s contract with the state has been renewed for 10 years. The funding, spread over two five-year periods, will begin this fiscal year with $5 million.
The renewal will allow the center to continue the development of next-gen 3D-printing processes, materials and applications, officials say.
The AMPrint Center began in 2015 when a group of universities and businesses led by RIT were selected to establish a New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Additive Manufacturing and Functional Printing. Its goal was to help the state become a global leader in 3D-printing technologies.
AMPrint’s research, training, and support have helped startups in New York. The center’s 3D-printing equipment is also used for research and as training and education resources for students, faculty and corporate partners.
Denis Cormier, director of the center, says its team has also contributed technology to improve the use of high-performance materials, including metals and carbon fiber composites, in 3D-printing applications.
“The AMPrint Center is helping to breathe new life into this region’s world-renowned printing industry by applying its expertise to the rapidly growing 3D-printing universe,” says Cormier, the Earl W. Brinkman Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.
The renewal grant also signals the work AMPrint has done to support and launch fledgling companies, as well as help other businesses tap into the power of industrial-grade 3D printing and additive manufacturing technologies in real-world applications.
For instance, Impossible Objects, a Rochester 3D printer company, recently installed the CBAM-25 machine in the AMPrint Center. It was developed with the center’s help to produce strong and lightweight carbon fiber composite components. The new printer becomes another in a series of high-end, high-tech—and very fast—3D printer assets at the university, and multiple funded projects are already underway at the AMPrint Center using this new carbon composite 3D printer, RIT says.
“There’s an acute need for high-speed 3D printers that can produce very strong, very lightweight components for drones and other applications,” Cormier notes.
Other applications include the development of custom carrier boards for the soldering process used in the manufacture of electronic circuit boards, resulting in time and cost savings.
“This is a ground-breaking piece of industrial manufacturing equipment,” says Cormier. “If you visualize a digital printing press making magazines or newspapers, the paper is just flying through the machine. Now translate that into 3D printing; that is what Impossible Objects has done. They are using carbon fiber instead of paper. There isn’t any 3D-printing technology that touches this machine’s print speed, while simultaneously making such high-strength parts.”
Cormier recently received a $3 million Future Manufacturing Research grant from the National Science Foundation to help the commercialization of a 3D printer that works like an inkjet printer–except the ink is molten metal. The team is working on the speed of the technology and the types of metals that the machine can print. It is expected to see commercial applications in the next five years.
“I believe that this metal 3D-printing technology has the potential to transform the way many metal parts are made,” Cormier says. “Instead of mass-producing parts that are shipped halfway across the world for storage in huge warehouses, it will be possible to locally print metal parts on-demand just before they are needed.”
There are several other projects underway, including a 3D printer that can produce full-color customized dentures. RIT students have the opportunity to use the AMPrint Center’s equipment through classes, which could help build a pipeline of engineers that can use the technology in various industries.
Such work has further enhanced the forecast for 3D printing and its global adoption. A Vantage Research report last month estimates the market will reach $210.5 billion by 2035. North America had the largest market share last year. However, the Asia Pacific region is expected to grow the fastest in the next decade.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor. Contributing writer Narm Nathan assisted with this article.
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