The new course, starting in October 2019, can be done as either a full time (one year) or part time (up to three years) degree, and will cover the capabilities of additive manufacturing (AM), in addition to the design of AM systems, qualification, modelling and materials.
‘This course provides students with the latest knowledge and skills for metal additive manufacturing (AM) providing a great foundation for a future career,’ Cranfield University explained. ‘Practical experience will be gained through assignments and group and individual projects in close collaboration with leading industrial end users.’
The announcement of the new course follows an AM panel discussion held at Photonics West last month in San Francisco, where industry experts highlighted a current lack of suitable AM courses being offered by universities.
The new course is intended to help meet the rising demand for skilled professionals with the right background, and will deliver graduates who are able to hold positions of significant engineering responsibility in the wide range of organisations using metal additive manufacturing technologies.
Planned module titles of the new course include:
- Additive Manufacturing Metallurgy (will provide an understanding of micro-structures and metallurgical characteristics of various alloy systems deposited by AM).
- Economics of Additive Manufacturing
- Finite Element Analysis (theory and hands-on experience on FEA)
- Management of Additive Manufacturing Quality (defects, standards, procedures, statistical control)
- Metal Additive Manufacturing Processes (an overview of the technologies used in metal AM)
- Net-shape Manufacturing (a closer look at the net-shape AM processes, plus others)
- Post-processing for AM (understanding and selecting the most appropriate post-processing techniques)
The course has been developed with input from industrial partners, combined with Cranfield’s over 20 years’ experience in large-scale metal AM, and the development of AM technologies.
Students will have access to several state-of-the-art AM facilities, including wire and arc AM systems (based on robotic arms), CNC gantries, laser-wire AM systems and powder-based systems. They will join a teaching and research team of approximately 30 people, and will have the chance to work on projects within the WAAMMat consortium, which currently includes 20 industry partners, including Airbus, BAE Systems, and Lockheed Martin.