Freemelt Establishes E-Beam 3D Printing Applications Center with North Carolina State University

Freemelt, a Swedish original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of electron beam powder bed fusion (E-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) hardware, has partnered with North Carolina State University (NCSU) to create an Application Center at the academic institution. The R&D operation will be set up in collaboration with NCSU’s Center for Additive Manufacturing and Logistics (CAMAL), an organization that facilitates joint work on advanced manufacturing between the university, government, and private industry.

The impetus for the partnership stems from an order for a feasibility study from an unnamed Freemelt customer, which the company first announced back in October 2024. According to Freemelt, the customer’s interest lies in developing new metal alloys that can withstand high temperatures, for strategic industries like aerospace/defense and energy.

The Application Center will allow future customers to similarly leverage CAMAL’s Freemelt ONE machine for R&D, supporting Freemelt’s goal of expanding its activities in the US. Founded in 2017, Freemelt went public on Nasdaq First North in 2021.

In a press release, the CEO of Freemelt, Daniel Gidlund, said, “Partnering with NC State University, through its renowned CAMAL center, is a vital step in our US expansion. The Application Center will meet the growing demand for feasibility studies and proof-of-concept projects, helping companies transition to serial production and advancing our position in critical sectors such as defense, energy, and medical technology.”

In the press release that originally announced Freemelt’s order from a customer for a feasibility study, Gidlund explained, “Feasibility studies are the first critical step in realizing serial production through AM. Feasibility studies bridge the cap between concept and production, proving that [AM] is a viable, cost-effective, and scalable solution for serial production. It provides the data-driven foundation needed to move forward, minimizing risks and ensuring readiness for industrial serial production. Feasibility studies are crucial for Freemelt’s commercialization, as they are related to industrial applications that are well-suited for E-PBF technology and will over time result in new orders for the industrial machine, eMELT.”

Direct partnerships between OEMs and academic institutions continue to be an indispensable stop on the path to scalability for the AM industry as a whole. In particular, these types of partnerships may be an especially attractive way for foreign companies to enter the US market, and vice versa. In June 2024, for instance, Australian cold spray OEM SPEE3D announced a partnership with the University of New Hampshire, similar to the one forged between Freemelt and NCSU.

European companies like Freemelt, specifically, will likely place an even greater priority on making inroads into the US market over the next four years, accelerating a trend already emergent over the last four. The Trump administration’s intensification of US trade tensions with China — before the president-elect has even taken office for his non-consecutive second term — puts European industry in a position that makes industrial cooperation with the US as economically indispensable as ever.

Despite that challenging position, companies like Freemelt that are positioned in sectors like energy, defense, and medical could seriously benefit from the US’s urgent need to get its manufacturing act together. Given the long-term renaissance in nuclear energy development that only seems to be signaling further ramp-up, Freemelt’s appeal to US customers has real potential to surge in the near future.

Images courtesy of Freemelt