3D Printing in Sri Lanka Continues to Grow with Help from RCS2 Technologies

Although 3D printing isn’t new to Sri Lanka – the technology was introduced to the country a decade ago – it’s been slow to spread. Sri Lanka is home to a single 3D printer manufacturer, but while RCS2 Technologies may be only one company, they’ve done the work of many. We took a look at RCS2 Technologies several months ago, and recently we were able to check in with them again to find out that they’re still continuing to work hard to spread 3D printing throughout Sri Lanka, mostly through education.

“We believe within next 3 years there will be a huge demand on additive manufacturing within Sri Lanka,” RCS2 tells 3DPrint.com. “However, the lack of awareness regarding this technology will be a really issue facing most industries. As a pioneer of 3D Printing industry in Sri Lanka we shoulder the burden and responsibility to bring our country to the forefront of this technology. In order to correct this glaring deficiency, we believe that education is the best method to generate the necessary skills to enable the next generation of Sri Lanka. So we have conducted a wide range of programs.”

One of those programs involved a partnership with the University of Moratuwa and Australia’s CSIRO to use 3D mapping and 3D printing technologies to preserve several heritage sites within Sri Lanka. The project, titled “LIDAR Based 3D Mapping for Nondestructive Heritage Conservation,” involved the use of LIDAR instruments, attached to drones, to scan the country’s historical monuments and create 3D models from the scans. The project ran from May 2 to May 7, during which time visited sites such as Jethawanarama Sthupaya, Kuttam Pokuna, Sigiriya, and Polonnaruwa.

RCS2 Technologies is also expanding beyond Sri Lanka, as the India-based CADD Centre Training Services will begin using RCS2’s Thrimána 3D printers in their curriculum. Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology is now incorporating 3D printing into its coursework.

“The School of Architecture, SLIIT produces some of the best architects to the field so far,” RCS2 tells us. “Now they are moving in a new direction by introducing 3D printing technology for designing and scale modelling for the first time in Sri Lanka. This will be a milestone of the architectural education system in Sri Lanka.”

Speaking of the education system, over 2,000 students from more than 70 schools recently participated in an IT BPM Career Guidance Seminar at Mahajana College. Attendees learned about the job opportunities available in the IT and BPM fields, and were able to get hands-on virtual reality and 3D printing experience with the 3D printers provided by RCS2 Technologies.

Additional educational outreach programs included:

• A seminar on 3D printing for young people at YOWNPURAYA 2017
• A computer science awareness program at the University of Sri Jayewardhenepura, during which RCS2 Technologies conducted a lecture on 3D printing for student attendees

Finally, there was KidsIgnite.

Students at Mahajana College

“KidsIgnite is a tech loving education institute located in Sri Lanka, believing that the Education System should not just teach students to ‘USE’ the technology of today, but must guide them to ‘CREATE’ the technology of tomorrow,” RCS2 tells us. “So they choose Thrimána 3D Printers to give achieve their desire. 3d Printing introduced to the kids’ education platform for the first time in Sri Lanka.”

For a country that has been mostly stagnant in terms of the growth of technology such as 3D printing, such a wide range of programs focusing on the technology marks a major turning point. It’s no surprise to see that RCS2 Technologies has had a hand in nearly all of these programs, too. Sri Lanka may yet become a prominent player in the 3D printing industry – and RCS2 will be able to take a lot of the credit if that happens.

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