ITERATE-Design-and-Innovation_3D-Printing
Iterate Design + Innovation, a company helping others to take ideas from concept to reality, has been awarded an Innovate UK grant worth £1 million to further develop its advanced 3D printing technology.
The start-up is based in Chepstow, South Wales and is made up of a team of design engineers. They aim to help their clients be first to market with their product, harnessing their ‘specialist knowledge’ of rapid product development.
With the £1m grant, Iterate will team with the University of Warwick, Printed Electronics Ltd, and C Enterprise – the makers of the CEL Robox – to embark on a project. Together, they will focus on combining electrically conductive inks with polymer based materials, in a bid to replace the need for wires in electro-mechanical product assemblies.
The partners expect the project to last around 18 months, and they hope will result in a beneficial product that incorporates plastics and electronics to reduce weight, complexity, cost and time-to-market.
“There are no machines on the market that accurately and reliably combine these two dissimilar materials to create production-grade results,” said Gethin Roberts, Managing Director at Iterate. “Current 3D print technology is based on Cartesian co-ordinate system (X, Y, Z), depositing one layer of material on top of another in a single plane to create a 3D object. This method has inherent limitations that affect surface finish, geometric tolerance and robustness.
“This project will overcome these challenges so that industry can cost effectively develop new products across an exciting array of market sectors – spanning military to healthcare.”
Iterate is seeking to engage with product manufacturers and end-users, who would be willing to test the new additive manufacturing process.
Innovate UK is the UK government’s innovation agency, or the ‘Technology Strategy Board’. Set up in 2007, the 300-strong team looks to drive growth and support innovation. In addition to offering financial grants, Innovate UK also connects innovators with partners, and offers support as they launch products and build businesses.
