about AM

Additive Manufacturing, also know as direct-digital-manufacture, generative manufacture or 3D Printing, is one of the most exciting emergent technologies available to global industry today. AM uses 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) data to directly 'print' or 'grow' parts in a variety of polymeric, metallic, ceramic and organic materials. AM allows companies to manufacture ever more complex and optimized components at very low unit volumes. It is suggested that AM could enable a step-change for manufacturers that will ultimately result in manufacturing being maintained in high wage economies.

The advantages that AM brings are already being commercially exploited by organisations such as Siemens, BMW, Volkswagen, Adler orthopedic, Boeing, NASA, Freedom of Creation and many other small innovative companies. Much academic research is also being undertaken into AM, and it is the aim of this conference to impart to industry and academia the state-of-the-art in Additive Manufacturing, so that commercial advantage can be exploited and new avenues can be explored.