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The latest cycle of GE Additive’s $10 million Additive Education Program (AEP) has concluded with the gifting of five direct metal laser melting (DMLM) 3D printers.

The Mlab cusing 200R machines from GE Additive owned Concept Laser will be delivered to universities in the Republic of Ireland, Germany and the U.S. in Q1 2019.

The aim of the program is to attract new talent to the 3D printing industry and fulfill the industry wide skills shortage for the technology.

Jason Oliver, President & CEO, GE Additive comments,

“Getting machines onto campus and into the the hands of undergraduates, researchers and faculty members is a sure fire way of getting them as excited about additive as we are.”

The GE Additive Education Program

The GE Additive AEP has previously awarded the equivalent of $2 million in metal 3D printers to seven U.S. universities and one in Australia. In collaboration with Ultimaker the initiative has also provided polymer 3D printers to more than 1,000 schools and colleges.

This year’s recipients of the Mlab cusing 200R machines, each worth around $250,000, were selected from over 500 applicants around the world.

So far, GE Additive has awarded approximately $3.25 million of its allotted $8 million set aside for the AEP’s metal additive manufacturing machines.

The academic beneficiaries

A leader in bioengineering, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one recipient of a Mlab cusing 200R. In 2017 its engineering department expended $239 million in research, and 15 of the school’s programs are ranked within the top 5 of their kind in the U.S.

West Virginia University has also been awarded one of the machines, as well as Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Germany and the University of Limerick in the Republic of Ireland.

Calhoun Community College in Alabama, is the final beneficiary of this year’s AEP. The Mlab cusing 200R will be used to enhance its additive manufacturing, architectural and engineering design program. Nina Bullock, additive program co-coordinator at Calhoun, comments,

“I am thrilled that Calhoun is one of the recipients of a metal printer. We are the only community college in the state of Alabama that offers a degree in additive manufacturing. This machine will really help advance our program.”

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Featured image shows a 3D printed metal mesh ball. Photo via GE Additive