Immensa Technology Labs, a company dedicated to the advancement of 3D printing throughout the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has filed a patent for an additive manufacturing method that makes patterns for molding building materials, such as concrete.
The technology has been created to align with is Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s Dubai 3D Printing Strategy that, by 2025, plans to use 3D printing to construct at least 25% of every new building in Dubai.
Immensa CEO, Fahmi Al-Shawwa, Labs, comments, “We are proud to represent this great nation by filing the first 3D printing related patent from a UAE-based company.”
“At Immensa, we constantly encourage our engineers to surpass their potentials, and we strive to offer them a positive and reinforcing environment for them to create and work in.”
The Dubai 3D Printing Strategy
The ambitious Dubai 3D Printing Strategy has been gaining a substantial amount of steam in recent years, including the formation of the Smart Buildability Index (a standard for 3D printed construction), millions of dollars in funding for 3D printing entrepreneurs and, of course, the city’s first 3D printed office in 2016.
Outside of construction, the Dubai 3D Printing Strategy also extends to medical and consumer sectors, including an alliance with the Dubai Health Authority, that announced plans to market 3D printed teeth by the end of 2017.
According to official forecasts, “The Dubai 3D Printing Strategy aims to reduce labour by 70%, reduce cost by 90%, and reduce time by 80% in the different sectors,” making the city, and the UAE, a world leader in the technology.
For construction:
“In 2025, based on Dubai Municipality’s regulations, every new building in Dubai will be 25% 3D printed; this move will start from 2019.”
Immensa 3D printed construction
For its part in the strategy, Immensa established its first 3D printing facility in 2017, and has since signed a digital inventory deal with Consolidated Contractors Company, the largest construction company in the Middle East.
The next step, it appears, is exploring means of 3D printed construction. The patent-pending 3D printed molds made by Immensa are reportedly more cost-efficient than traditional equivalents, environmentally friendly, and reusable.
“We came upon the process for this mold while working on various projects related to concrete casting,” explains Immensa engineer Edem Dugenboo.
The company plans to continue it’s R&D efforts in the construction sector for the foreseeable future in co-operation with industry partners.
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Featured image shows construction in Dubai. Image via Emirates Rebar Limited.
