The Additive Manufacturing Network at Imperial coordinates research activities directed at increasing our understanding of all Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes.
In this way the Additive Manufacturing Network aims to exploit IC's expertise in fundamental science to: further our knowledge of AM product performance, advance AM technologies, and create novel design methodologies and tools.
This focus will act as the foundation of the Network’s activities feeding upwards into applied research projects. To achieve this, the Additive Manufacturing Network brings together multiple research groups from across IC faculties, enabling collaborative programmes, which feed each other and allow cross pollination opportunities.
Additive manufacturing opens up near infinite possibilities in design options with the ability to embed latent functions such as sensing, personalisation and transient structures. This is both an advantage, in terms of design freedom, but also a potential disadvantage in that the expansive design space leads to increased difficulty in finding the optimum solution. The Additive Manufacturing Network is working towards enabling industrialists and designers to embrace Additive Manufacturing as a means to realise their goals.
Research topics range from medical applications and synthetic biology, through light weight functionalised materials and smart structures, to new computing technologies that enable advanced manufacture and design.
The AMN would like to thank the Faculty of Engineering Internal Strategic Fund for supporting this network.
