3D Printing Companies Win Big in LIFT’s Advanced Materials Challenge

Last year, Detroit’s LIFT, the Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) that specializes in lightweighting, announced the Advanced Materials Challenge (AMC) Program, a project call seeking advanced materials solutions for components relevant to the Department of War (DoW) objectives and utilizing automation tools in the design process. LIFT has just announced three winners of the project call, and additive manufacturing (AM) is central to all three projects, aligning with the goals of the Advanced Metallic Production and Processing (AMPP) Center that the organization opened earlier this year.

The AMPP is a unique public-private partnership that enables the development, production, and delivery of novel materials, with metals for AM designated as a top priority. LIFT selected the three AMC project winners in large part owing to their compatibility with the AMPP’s mission: metal powders supplier Elementum 3D, for instance, will use AMPP’s gas atomization system to produce aluminum powder using its proprietary Reactive Additive Manufacturing (RAM) process.

Meanwhile, Raytheon Technologies Research Center (RTRC) will leverage machines at AMPP, including a Plasma Multi-Wire Additive Manufacturing (PMWAAM) system and Field-Assisted Sintering Technology (FAST) system, to both produce and test Ti-Cu-X alloys optimized for applications like repairing titanium aerospace components. And EOS will work with Texas A&M and consultancy 3Degrees to develop a “virtual qualification and certification” process incorporating AI and ML for powder bed fusion (PBF) materials.

As with all MII organizations, LIFT regularly announces project calls that provide members the opportunity to receive partial funding for R&D projects relevant to both the public and private sectors. The maximum funding from LIFT for AMC winners was $750,000, with a minimum cost-share commitment of 25 percent.

In a press release announcing the winners of LIFT’s AMC Program project call, Noel Mack, LIFT’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), said, “As a technology accelerator, it is incumbent upon us to work with our network of members across the country to drive innovation in materials, processes, and systems faster. We are thrilled to have had so many proposals for really innovative projects and are excited to have these three launched.”

The winning companies already have decent traction in the government procurement space, which obviously gives them an easier path to commercialization than would otherwise be the case. This should also maximize LIFT’s ability to showcase the potential of the AMPP, which is a model that I think exemplifies how industry can benefit from cultivating public-private partnerships.

The aspect of AMPP that really makes it stand out is its emphasis on putting commercialization front-and-center within the confines of an R&D environment, and this is precisely the direction that U.S. manufacturing R&D needs to take. I wrote about that topic back in September in a post about the establishment this year of a host of new advanced manufacturing programs at U.S. research universities, and it’s a topic that I expect will only matter more as the U.S. government continues to embark upon its turbulent journey toward revitalizing national manufacturing competencies.

Along those lines, perhaps the greatest advantage for LIFT/AMPP is its location within the heart of U.S. auto manufacturing. Historically, there are few sectors better than the automotive industry at commercializing R&D, but in this century, the U.S. has obviously fallen behind, and one obvious solution would be public-private collaboration that aligns the interests of specific industries with those of society as a whole.

The development of the basic materials needed to support industrial rejuvenation may not be at the forefront of most people’s minds when they think about the changes required to improve society. But when you consider all the implications at hand, material science is one of those subtle areas where progress can start to transform from theory into reality.