With more than 80 participants, the first seminar on additive manufacturing ceramics came to a successful close last September.
 

The key topics  of this seminar included fundamental issues as well as relevant economic and technical aspects concerning the additive production of high-performance ceramic for industry and research.  The stellar expert lectures were essential to the success of the first AM Ceramics. These established an excellent overview of the potential applications and current trends in research and development, and were able to convey the particular features and potential of AM.
 
The introduction to the two-day seminar was carried out through lectures by Mr. Jens Günster (Federal Institute for Material Testing), Mr. Tassilo Moritz (Fraunhofer IKTS) and Mr. Guido Falk (Saarland University), who gave an overview of AM procedures for ceramic and compared them to conventional procedures.

Led by Mr. Falk’s moderation, business experts such as Mr. Norbert Müller (LAPP Insulators Alumina), Mr. Marius Lakomiec (EOS GmbH) and Mr. Alexander Hilgenberg (Steinbach AG) discussed the use and application of additive manufacturing systems within business practice. Focus was given especially to the economic aspects of such technologies and furthermore, it was shown how businesses could apply this new technology profitably and which applications would be especially suitable when employing additive manufacturing.

The topic “Design for Additive Manufacturing” was another key point of the seminar. Mr. Uwe Scheithauer (Fraunhofer IKTS) presented a number of complex components, which demonstrated the numerous design possibilities offered by additive manufacturing. Aside from cutting assembly costs, the new designs offer an increase in component functionality. Mr. Franz Weber (University Hospital Zurich) informed the members of the audience about the specific advantages of AM in bone replacements.

In addition to these new design possibilities offered by additive manufacturing, a series of lectures were also dedicated to its limitations, held by Mr. Joachim Vogt (Fraunhofer Center for High Temperature Materials and Design HTL) and Mr. Florian Kleusch (Lithoz GmbH). To conclude Mr. Christian Potzernheim-Zenkel (Bayern Innovativ) and Johannes Gartner (3Druck.com) presented the newest developments and future prospects ceramic AM. Mr. Wolfgang Römer (St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences) inspired many participants with his lecture on innovation management to leave the beaten path and view the additive manufacture of ceramic from a completely new perspective.
 
In addition to the expert lectures, participants were given the chance to converse and network with each other. Mr. Johannes Homa, technical manager of the AM Ceramics, is pleased with the event’s success: “The great interest that people had for the seminar, showed us that within the field of ceramic manufacturing, the AM community is growing and that there is a great demand for relevant, well-founded information on the topic. We are planning to hold the event again next year and to offer the AM community a benchmark event for information and exchange!”

Download the AM CERAMICS 2016 program (in German) from last year to get an idea of the AM Ceramics 2017.

Impressions from AM Ceramic 2016