Protolabs
Protolabs Wohlers DFAM
Protolabs and Wohlers Associates have announced their partnership to deliver a three-day Design for Additive Manufacturing (DFAM) course.
The programme is an invitation-only initiative, and has come about as a result of a joint interest in helping engineers and designers get the most from 3D printing technologies.
It will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, concluding at Protolabs’ 77,000 square-foot 3D printing facility. Terry Wohlers, Principle Consultant and President of Wohlers Associates, and Olaf Diegel, Associate Consultant at Wohlers Associates, will lead the course, with assistance from a number of Protolabs engineers who have experience with polymer and metal AM.
Wohlers Associates hosted a similar DFAM programme last summer having identified it as a key barrier and ‘critical’ if companies wanted to stay competitive with additive manufacturing technologies. Protolabs, meanwhile, has been becoming more and more involved in the educating of engineering and design professionals, joining GE Additive’s Manufacturing Partner Network last year, and also becoming a founder member of MIT’s Center for Additive and Digital Advanced Production Technologies (ADAPT) consortium in December.
Both parties are passionate about the advancement of additive manufacturing, and believe the potential of the technology can only be fully realised with sufficient education provided.
“Designing for AM offers unique challenges and opportunities not found in traditional design methods,” commented Wohlers. “Protolabs brings tremendous depth of expertise and leadership in 3D printing. We’re thrilled to work together to equip attendees with the technical skills and manufacturing knowledge needed to unlock the full potential of additive manufacturing.”
“Additive manufacturing has moved well beyond this worn-out notion that it has to prove its worth – we’ve seen first-hand its maturation over the years and have literally 3D printed millions of parts during that time,” added Vicki Holt, President and CEO, Protolabs. “We know it’s an extremely valuable prototyping tool, but it has now made significant strides in materials and technology where production is its logical next phase. Collaborating with the world’s leading additive experts – and those who look to leverage that technology to its fullest – will serve to proliferate the education and adoption of 3D printing.”