BUSINESS

3D Print Development at VŠB-TU Ostrava Supported by Significant Projects The Department of Machining, Assembly and Engineering Metrology at VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava has included additive production in the range of their research and development activities along with cooperation with companies. We enquired about the present and future of 3D printing with Mr Marek Pagáč, the Head of Additive Manufacturing Laboratory at the Department of Machining.

The Additive Manufacturing Laboratory was founded in collaboration with the company Renishaw, who contributed a 3D metal printer using the principle of melting metallic dust by laser: the primary idea was to establish a working site promoting 3D printing while supporting companies in the Moravian-Silesian Region. Interesting project intentions helped the activities of the laboratory get involved in project solutions supported by our own resources, the state budget, the EU and the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. The aim of the first project in long-term intersectoral cooperation is to solve basic research in 3D metallic print and composite materials. The budget of the project is CZK 82 million, the period of the solution four years, and eight partners are

involved. Five partners are ITI companies based in Ostrava and three are universities: Fraunhofer in Chemnitz, Germany; Politechnika Ślaska (the Silesian University of Technology) in Gliwice, Poland; and the University of Žilina, Slovakia. Another project connecting the Department of Machining with six technical universities in the Czech Republic is the National Competence Centre of Mechatronics and Smart Technologies for Mechanical Engineering MESTEC. The aim of the project is to solve actual tasks in cooperation with 19 companies. The project results in prototypes, working samples, utility models, tested technologies, expert articles, and patents. The period of the project is two years, and the budget of the Department of Machining is CZK 16 million.

Text: Ing. Marek Pagáč, Ph.D. Foto: archiv VŠB-TU, Fakulta strojní

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