Just a week after they announced their Additive Manufacturing Competency Center at the University of Louisville, global safety sciences company UL has unveiled plans for a second 3D printing center, this time in Singapore. The Global Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Singapore, relying on S$8million in investment, will be a training facility partnering with local research institutes and industry to facilitate growth and education around 3D printing in Singapore.
The center is supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and will be charged with training professionals, as well as validating 3D printing technologies and materials, as well as research 3D printing overall. Partnerships with such institutes as the Singapore Centre for 3D Printing and the Advanced Remanufacturing and Technology Centre, the Global Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence will offer training curriculum, validation programs, advisory services, and research.
Lim Kok Kiang, Assistant Managing Director of EDB says of the new facility, “UL’s Global Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence will play a catalytic role in helping our industrial companies strengthen their manufacturing competitiveness. This global center is also aligned with Singapore’s vision to be the advanced manufacturing hub ofAsia that drives the development of disruptive technologies such as Additive Manufacturing and robotics. We are confident this new investment will add to the vibrancy of the Testing, Inspection and Certification (TIC) sector in Singapore.”
Simin Zhou, vice president of Digital Manufacturing Technologies at UL, adds, “We are excited to help build the Singapore additive manufacturing ecosystem by contributing advanced training, validation programs, advisory services and research. We anticipate this site will be the first step of several as we continue to expand into other 3D printing markets, bringing knowledge and best practices.”
Singapore is steadily increasing its role in the global 3D printing world and, with 10 experts in the industry employed at the center, the Global Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Singapore seeks to be a key component of the country’s place in global and regional 3D printing development. While the Louisville facility focuses on training and certification, the Singapore institute will have added R&D and consultancy components. Not only will UL be able to act as gatekeepers of 3D printing knowledge, but they will be creating new knowledge as well, ensuring that UL can leverage the booming technology as it enters into serious R&D and implementation phases.
