Digital Manufacturing
The group's research focus is on digital manufacturing in all of its forms, including the additive manufacturing of multi-functional assemblies, parts and tooling and their digital design, modelling and optimisation as combined products and production systems. Breakthroughs have been made in understanding the combining of additive manufacturing processes with traditional processes of heat treatment and material removal to create novel-shaped, high-performance, multi-functional parts.
Additive manufacturing research has resulted in novel industrial and medical technologies. Medical applications include combined digital and physical pre-surgical planning models; digitally optimised and printed patient-specific customised surgical implants and tissue engineering with printing of living cells. Research is also underway with industrial partners on reducing supply chain delivery times and increased customisation through digitalisation and additive manufacturing capability to digitally create both rapid tooling or direct parts.
Personnel: Professor Jouni Partanen, Professor Esko Niemi, Adjunct Professor Kevin Otto