News and events

High Performance Polymeric Additive Manufacturing; 11-12th September 2024

Registration now open...

Previous Events

European Strategy for Additive Manufacture with High Performance Polymers 2022

Following postponements due to Covid-19, it was great to finally see everyone in person again and get together in Exeter for another great event on the 6-7th July 2022.  The Centre for Additive Layer Manufacturing (CALM) held its 4th AM event for High Performance Polymers (HPP). The previous few years had been an exciting period of development in the HPP sector, and this was a chance to bring the leading industry partners together to highlight these advancements.

With great speakers, interesting discussions and a fabulous dinner (sponsored by Victrex) at Hotel du Vin, it was a very successful event, with new contacts formed and new collaborations in the pipeline. 

Conference on Materials and Structures for Additive Manufacturing - 2020

Presentations showcased new developments and research in materials for additive manufacturing, with applications including lightweighting, mechanical reinforcement, thermal and electrical enhancement and other uses of metamaterials (acoustic, electromagnetic or mechanical). Presentations included:

• Metallic ink injected meta atoms: Professor Chris Stevens, University of Oxford, UK
• Fused Deposition Modeling 3D printed metasurfaces for microwave applications: Dr Anna Tasolamprou, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, Greece
• Multi-Material Powder Bed Fusion: Max Horn, Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV, Germany
• Investigating magnetic materials for Laser Powder Bed Fusion: Dr Carlos Henrique Ahrens, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brasil
• MOF-3D: 3D printing with super adsorbent materials: Dr Binling Chen, University of Exeter, UK
• Real-time quality monitoring with ultrasound in AM: Professor Cetin Cetinkaya, Clarkson University, USA
• Filler alignment for AM applications with a concept design for fabrication of graded structures inside Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) devices, Dr Maria Mann, University of Exeter, UK
• Rapid 3D inspection of AM components using CT: from defect detection to thermal performance simulation: Dr Celia Butler, Synopsys, UK
• Additive manufacturing and architected materials: Professor Christopher Spadaccini, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA

European Strategy for Additive Manufacture with High Performance Polymers 2018

In September 2018 CALM at the University of Exeter hosted the third Conference on European Strategy for Additive Manufacturing with High Performance Polymers. Over 50 invited delegates from all AM industry sectors spent two days hearing a range of presentations on the latest developments in AM technology. Delegates also had plenty of opprtunity to discuss and identify the issues and solutions needed to further advance the high performance polymer sector within Additive Manufacturing.

At the event, CALM and Victrex announced a 5-year multi-million pound strategic partnership to introduce next-generation PAEK polymers and composites while improving the performance of the underlying AM processes, building on the successful relationship cultivated since the first event in 2014. As a result of a consortium of eight organisations including CALM, formed after the 2016 CALM event, Victrex have also recently announced newly developed advanced PAEK products designed for AM.

To be kept up-to-date with developments in this area please email the team at calm@exeter.ac.uk.

European Strategy for Additive Manufacture with High Performance Polymers 2016

The University of Exeter hosted the 2nd biennial AM event in September 2016, with representatives from leading organisations across Europe and the United States. The 2 day event included presentations from Airbus Group Innovation, Victrex, Versarien, Indmatec, EOS, Eurocoating, Oxford Advanced Surfaces and Boeing. These presentations coupled with round table sessions and networking opportunities provided the inspiration for some great discussions which we hope will lead to further projects that help shape the future of this exciting technology.

Our thanks go to Victrex for sponsoring the evening dinner and networking event on the Wednesday night and ongoing support with the organisation of this important industrial event.

More information is available in the Aerospace Manufacturing article published shortly after the event.

European Strategy for Additive Manufacture with High Temperature (HT) Polymers 2014

This event in September 2014 was the first AM event for HT polymers held by Exeter and brought together representatives from the Additive Manufacturing supply chain to discuss the short and long term vision for research and manufacturing, plus the funding mechanisms and ways to collaborate. A number of presentations were shown, focussing on the commercial and technical challenges surrounding the adoption of high temperature polymers and composites for Additive Manufacturing.

Feedback from the event:

“A useful and informative event, with interesting presentations” - Thiago Medeiros Araujo, Airbus Group Innovation UK

“An excellent opportunity for us to engage with some other major corporations throughout the supply chain.” - Romain Czarny, Thales Group

“An interesting day, and an excellent opportunity for us to engage with other businesses involved in high temperature polymer AM.” - Marcel Gowers, Smiths Group

“A very informative day, with both research and practical examples of how the technology is being driven forward.” - Fabian Muller, EOS Gmbh