The main conference will take place Wednesday and Thursday, with a special pre-conference event held Tuesday presenting a look at the Industrial Realities of Additive Manufacturing. Over the course of eight hours, seventeen speakers held the attention of 194 attendees, discussing topics ranging from metrology to government funding to education and training to IP protection — a fairly high-level agenda geared toward those ready to dive into the business ins and outs of additive manufacturing.
- Introduction to the day: Phill Dickens – Added Scientific Ltd
- Morning Session – Industrial Realities Additive Manufacturing
- Phil Reeves – Stratasys Expert Services
- Dave Brackett – The MTC
- John Williams – Materialise
- Ian Halliday – 3T RPD
- Ed Attenborough – Attenborough Dental
- Paul Holt – Photocentric Ltd
- Ben Farmer – HiETA Technologies Ltd
- Sophie Jones – Added Scientific Ltd
- Afternoon Session – Update for the UK National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing
- Introduction to Industrial Strategy: Robin Wilson – Innovate UK
- Overview of Issues and Challenges with AM across Industry Sectors Session 1
- Materials and Processes: Rob Scudamore – TWI
- Design: Ben Griffin – Innovate UK
- Measurement/Inspection/Testing: Richard Leach – University of Nottingham
- Overview of Issues and Challenges with AM across Industry Sectors Session 2
- Skills/Education: Frank Cooper – Birmingham City University
- Cost/ Investment/Financing: Richard Hill – NatWest
- Standards/Regulation: Alex Price – BSI
- IP/Protection/Secrecy: Susan Reiblein – Susan Reiblein Consultancy
- Panel discussion
- Wrap Up: Ken Young (Opportunities for engagement/Industrial Challenge Strategy Fund)
We’ll be delving more in-depth into several of these presentations in coming days — Tuesday alone, I took down 25 pages of typed notes, so there’s definitely a good deal of detail to sift through and dig into — but throughout the discussions, several themes appeared and reappeared. For many involved in industrial additive manufacturing, few of these will come as a surprise; what was especially refreshing was the honesty onstage, as this isn’t a commercially-geared event. While we heard from several companies that have products to sell, representatives were quick to note that they weren’t here as salespeople, but as industry participants.
With the focus on being so relatable and on remaining realistic, case studies are making up a good deal of the content at hand. Usage of advanced manufacturing technologies for applications with clear human benefit, such as medical case studies, as well as demonstrable proofs of concept were at the core of many of the presentations. As several speakers pointed out, additive manufacturing does not, and can not, exist in a vacuum unto itself; not only does AM need to work alongside other manufacturing technologies as part of an ecosystem solution to have the most benefit, but the human element is critical to any ultimate hopes of success in adoption.
As the week continues, the speaker lineup for the full conference event these next two days promises more grounded looks into the realities of additive manufacturing today and a pragmatic exploration of the future of these technologies.
[All photos: Sarah Goehrke]