AsianScientist (Feb. 3, 2017) – Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has officially launched the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC), an innovation cluster focused on 3D printing. The launch was held at NAMIC’s inaugural Additive Manufacturing Summit on January 23, 2017.

Led by NTU’s innovation and enterprise company NTUitive in partnership with SPRING Singapore and the Singapore Economic Development Board, NAMIC’s two other founding members are the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

Since the formation of NAMIC by the National Research Foundation of Singapore and SPRING Singapore last year, the cluster has reached out to about 400 local and international companies to help them adopt 3D printing as part of their business. NAMIC has also successfully established joint funding for 39 projects between companies and academic research institutions and has 80 more projects in the pipeline.

NAMIC’s managing director, Dr. Ho Chaw Sing, said the response they had received from companies has been positive, despite the fact that the use of 3D printing for industrial purposes is still in its infancy.

“While 3D printing has taken off for customized products in the aerospace and biomedical industries, many local companies still find the barrier of entry quite high, due to the costly printers and a lack of expertise in additive manufacturing,” Ho explained. “Our objectives are to reach, educate and help link these companies to scientists and engineers at research institutes, who already have existing 3D printing machines and the technical know-how. This way, we ensure that the innovative solutions developed through research will meet real business needs.”

An example of how NAMIC is meeting industry needs is the partnership between NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing and global inventions company Intellectual Ventures to develop a foolproof approach for authenticating 3D printed products.

Under the partnership, scientists have developed a unique identifier coding that can be embedded during the 3D printing process, similar to how authentic products have unique barcodes. This Embedded Identifier Module (EIM) is impossible to remove or alter, and can be easily read by commercially available scanners and readers.

Another ongoing partnership facilitated by NAMIC is between SUTD and Gilmour Space Technologies, where researchers are developing a 3D printer to print prototype solid fuel mixtures for rockets. Known as hybrid rocket fuel technology, the solid fuel is made up of two or more fuels comprising wax and plastics, and is designed and printed in a way that provides the rocket its desired thrust in a more cost-effective fashion.

Over the next four years, NAMIC aims to reach out to over 1,000 companies through tailored engagements, industry events and customized workshops to help them improve and innovate through the use of 3D printing technologies.



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Source: Nanyang Technological University; Photo: Shutterstock.

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