February 23, 2016
David Adams, CEO of the IPR; Simin Zhou, VP of UL Digital Manufacturing Technologies (DMT); Chris Krampitz, Director, UL DMT Innovation & Strategy; Dr. Neville Pinto, Provost, University of Louisville; Ed Tackett, UL AMCC Director of Educational Programs; Glynn Fletcher, President of EOS North America; Rob Gorham, Director of Operations, America Makes; Dr. John Usher, Dean of the UofL Speed School of Engineering.
UL and the University of Louisville announced the official opening of the newly established 3D printing training center named the UL Additive Manufacturing Competency Center (UL AMCC). Developed for established additive manufacturing (AM) technical and business professionals, the end-to-end training center, located on the University of Louisville campus, will be a hub for advancing AM knowledge and workforce expertise.
Concurrent to the opening ceremony, UL and EOS, the world’s leading technology and quality leader for high-end, industrial AM solutions, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in which the two companies will collaborate to provide joint AM training, conformity advisory services and facility safety management to EOS customers. The goal of the relationship is to promote the proper usage and advancement of AM technologies to the manufacturing industry.
“As the world-leading industrial 3D-printing solution provider, EOS forms strategic partnerships to strengthen our core competencies of systems, process and materials. Our partnership with UL allows us to join with our customers – both current and future – to push advancements in innovation, safety and quality,” said Glynn Fletcher, President, EOS of North America, Inc.
The UL AMCC offers hands-on training in additive manufacturing for metals and curriculum covering design set up, design corrections, machine set up, part production, post-processing and parts inspection, testing and validation. The training will allow professionals to understand how to produce metal parts and emerging materials through additive manufacturing, and establish safety systems, identify hazards from materials and machines and manufacture parts with safety built into designs.
“Our vision has always been to collaborate with the additive manufacturing industry to further innovation, safety and quality. The UL AMCC is a direct outcome of that collaboration. The University of Louisville, AM machine manufacturers and other industry leaders demonstrated incredible commitment in the creation of this facility,” said Simin Zhou, vice president of UL’s Digital Manufacturing Technologies division.
The UL AMCC joins the University of Louisville’s global advanced manufacturing campus, the Institute for Product Realization (IPR), and collaborates and shares knowledge with other corporate residents, including GE and Local Motors’ FirstBuild.
“The UL AMCC is a first-of-its-kind facility with the technical and educational expertise to not only progress additive manufacturing but also contribute to the future of manufacturing transformation. We see the intersection of industry information, UL’s training, certification and safety knowledge and the University’s additive manufacturing expertise and academic research creating a manufacturing environment unlike anything else,” said David Adams, CEO of the IPR.
As additive manufacturing technologies evolve, UL AMCC will update course curriculum and introduce new content every six to 12 months. As part of the training program, UL has developed a formal additive manufacturing professional certification for students who have demonstrated proficiency in the minimum competencies to manufacture conforming parts.
To learn more information about the UL AMCC, visit UL.com/ULAMCC. For information on specific courses or to register, visit UL.com/AMtraining or email additivemanufacturing@ul.com.