Communications of the ACM
Research Partners Launch 3-D Printing Training Facility
The UL Additive Manufacturing Competency Center is set to open this fall adjacent to the University of Louisville campus.
Credit: University of Louisville
UL LLC and the University of Louisville are launching a 3-D printing training facility called the UL Additive Manufacturing Competency Center (
UL AMCC). It is set to open this fall adjacent to the university campus.
Developed for established additive manufacturing technical and business professionals, the end-to-end training center will be a hub for advancing manufacturing knowledge and workforce expertise.
Specifically, the UL AMCC will offer 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, establish safety systems, identify hazards from materials and machines, and manufacture parts with safety built into designs.
"Applying the University of Louisville's deep and practical research expertise in metals and manufacturing education with UL's rich history in safety science will bridge the workforce development gap and empower professionals with cutting-edge training in this advanced technology," says Keith Williams, CEO of UL, a global safety science organization. "Through the UL AMCC, UL is committed to meeting ever-evolving safety and quality needs and accelerating knowledge transfers within the 3-D printing industry."
"We're excited about our partnership with UL," says University of Louisville President James Ramsey. "This is another collaboration with a world-class company that will help us build our reputation as the university for advanced manufacturing, training, and moving research to the marketplace."
The UL AMCC will join UofL's global advanced manufacturing campus, the Institute for Product Realization, and collaborate and share knowledge with other corporate residents, including GE and Local Motors' FirstBuild.
"As an integral part of the IPR, the UL AMCC will provide engineers and manufacturers with a melting pot of valuable information and resources and provide a direct connection from our academic research and UL's certification and safety expertise to practical 3-D printing applications," says Neville Pinto, dean of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering and a professor of chemical engineering at UofL.
As additive manufacturing technologies rapidly evolve, UL AMCC will update course curriculum and introduce new content every six to 12 months. Looking forward, UL will develop a formal workforce additive manufacturing certification program during 2016 to help designers, engineers, and operators expand from traditional manufacturing techniques into additive manufacturing techniques.
"We anticipate the UL AMCC will expand over time to take on additional innovations to advance manufacturing," says Simin Zhou, vice president of Digital Manufacturing Technologies at UL. "As additive manufacturing gets deeper and more integrated into production lines, the training center will evolve real time to arm workforces with the most up-to-date knowledge and best practices."
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