Canada Opens Metal 3D Printing Research Center for Marine and Defense Industries

This week, Canada opened its first research center for metal 3D printing for the marine and defense industries. The Marine Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence was launched by the University of New Brunswick, in partnership with Custom Fabricators and Machinists (CFM) and community colleges in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The center will combine research, commercialization and workforce development and training, and is the first in the country to use metal 3D printing to manufacture certified custom parts for the marine sector.

The research and development aspects of the center will be led by Dr. Mohsen Mohammadi, director of the center and associate professor of mechanical engineering at UNB. CFM will partner on commercialization, while the New Brunswick Community College, Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick and the Nova Scotia Community College will lead workforce development and training.

“We’re seeing more and more people show interest in coming to New Brunswick to be part of what we’re doing. This is the first centre of its kind in Canada and we are doing it right here in New Brunswick,” said Dr. Mohammadi. “Our technology is greener and more efficient than conventional methods and will create high value jobs here in Atlantic Canada.”

The center is being funded by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and Irving Shipbuilding Inc. Lockheed Martin is contributing $2.7 million as part of its industrial and regional benefits obligation to the Canadian government for its contract for the CP-140 Aurora Structural Life Extension Project.

“We are very pleased to see our Industrial Technology Benefit supporting the creation of the University of New Brunswick’s Marine Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence,” said Charles Bouchard, CEO of Lockheed Martin Canada. “Innovations such as 3D metal printing are the way of the future and Lockheed Martin is always looking at methods to increase our efficiency and effectiveness in the field of advanced manufacturing.”

Irving Shipbuilding, meanwhile, contributed $750,000 as part of its Value Proposition commitments under the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS).

“As the commercialization partner, CFM is pleased to be hosting the 3D printing equipment at our facility, and we look forward to working with the community colleges to provide a hands-on classroom to train the next generation of skilled machinists and fabricators,” said David Saucy, Vice President, Construction and Equipment division of J.D. Irving, Limited. “We also look forward to working closely with Dr. Mohammadi and his team as we integrate this new technology into our existing global customer base as well as developing new markets in the growing marine manufacturing sector.”

According to the University of New Brunswick, the center is currently worth nearly $5 million and is expected to triple its funding over the next year as more partners join. The mission of the center is to promote the implementation of metal 3D printing technology in the marine sector by developing new methods, procedures and training programs. Discuss in the AM Center of Excellence forum at 3DPB.com.

[Source: Huddle]