VIT Chennai, a leading university in Tamil Nadu, has collaborated with Sedaxis Advanced Materials, a Navi Mumbai-based technology company, to establish a Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence to help accelerate the adoption of 3D printing in various industry sectors such as automotive, aerospace, defence, manufacturing, consumer goods, education, service bureaus, healthcare, construction, and others.
Dr. Kanchana Bhaaskaran, Pro-Vice-Chancellor of VIT, Chennai, graced the inauguration event, and following the MoU signing ceremony, members of both the VIT Chennai and Sedaxis teams took a tour of the upcoming CoE facility as well as a campus tour to review VIT’s advanced infrastructure and facilities.
The VIT-Sedaxis Additive Manufacturing Centre for Excellence would be housed on the VIT Chennai campus. In keeping with the Centre’s vision of making 3D printing accessible to a broad user community, it will be outfitted with cutting-edge professional-grade 3D printers in a variety of technologies that can be used by all SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in the region.
Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence
A good business case for mass 3D printing adoption in India is only possible when the unit economics make sense, which can happen when affordable machines are supported by the use of lower-cost open materials, which is a key focus area for the Centre. The Centre will have a research arm equipped with a variety of 3D printers for R&D applications, including continuous composite fiber 3D printing and other open material/open parameter capable 3D printers, which will be phased in. This would allow researchers from all disciplines to conduct cutting-edge research on additive manufacturing equipment and materials development, as well as new product development.
The VIT-Sedaxis Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence will also serve as a knowledge hub, allowing industry and academia to easily access the benefits of 3D printing and preparing the next generation of professional and student workforce for careers in the 3D Printing industry.
“Vellore Institute of Technology has always been the frontrunner in closely collaborating with the industry as a way of creating industry-ready graduates and excelling in the research and product development activities. Today, we are excited to welcome onboard SEDAXIS Advanced Materials Pvt. Ltd., the industry partner, in our journey of fruitful collaboration in the domain of additive manufacturing. Besides providing solutions to the social and industrial problems, we are also looking forward to witnessing many remarkable outcomes as part of this association in terms of supporting academic research and projects.”
Dr. Kanchana Bhaaskaran, Pro Vice-Chancellor, VIT Chennai
The Pro Vice-Chancellor also emphasized that industries in and around Chennai can use VIT faculty expertise and the Centre’s 3D printing facilities for their manufacturing needs such as design, prototyping, tooling, and small-batch manufacturing of components.
On the need for such facilities in India, Mr. Vishwanath Godavarty, Business Head for 3DP at Sedaxis added, “It’s encouraging to see that one of the largest private universities in India has recognized the need to make 3D Printing more accessible to both industry and R&D/Academia and has joined forces with Sedaxis to fulfill our joint vision to democratize 3D Printing and help make it more accessible to the thousands of SMEs across the region. Through this Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence, we would be able to generate greater awareness of continuous composite fiber, affordable industrial SLS (Selective laser sintering), and R&D-specific solutions in 3D Printing.”
Furthermore he added, “Many businesses struggle to translate their enthusiasm for 3D printing into meaningful business opportunities. The CoE will also support such use-cases with objective solutions that remove the guesswork and eliminate the need for costly third-party consultants.”
Besides printing services, the Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence will co-conduct 3D printing events/workshops for industry and academia. SMEs are large focus sector of the CoE, as are R&D applications for 3D Printing.
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