Discovering and testing new materials to create components that can help safeguard the national interest in virtually any fields, from bio-security to counter-terrorism and defense as well as in civil arenas such as energy production and conservation or civil engineering falls under the remit of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California. That, and trying to build a nuclear fusion commercial reactor.
Now, as Diane Chinn, Division Leader of Materials Engineering at LLNL reveals, it does this “by applying additive manufacturing not only to its core mission of national security but also by seeking ways to accelerate the process to create new materials.” In fact the LLNL has been quite active on the front of advanced AM materials R&D, by developing a certification to guarantee quality control.
The next step is investigating the actual commercial potential of AM and, to achieve this, LLNL has signed a partnership agreement with FATHOM, one of San Francisco Bay Area’s largest 3D printing service and resellers (it is also one of top 500 fastest growing “Inc.’s”). LLNL will develop and test new materials for 3D printing and additive manufacturing with FATHOM and the two companies will cooperatively delve into processing, testing and characterization, along with application specific advancements entailing both hardware and software.
Although there is no mention of exactly what types of materials the partnership will focus on, for the privately owned company, co-founded in 2008 by current Principal, Rich Stump, and Michelle Mihevic, it is a great opportunity to further grow the range of services offered – which include CAD design, as well as sales of the entire Stratasys line up of 3D printers, assistance and support.
“FATHOM is very excited about this advanced technology partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Lab,” said Stump, who is highly confident that, by bringing together FATHOM’s professional commercial industry expertise and LLNL’s advanced R&D capabilities, this partnership will benefit the entire 3D printing and additive manufacturing industry.
