Shanghai Jiaotong University’s ISM and ACAM kick off cooperation in Additive Manufacturing research

15. February 2022,the Institute of Special Materials (ISM) at Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing (ACAM) from Germany announced their cooperation in research and development, applied research as well as education and training for additive manufacturing.

Picture: From left to right: Associate Prof. Dr. Yi Wu (Shanghai Jiaotong University), Kitty Wang (ACAM China), Associate Prof. Dr. Wang Hong-ze (Shanghai Jiaotong University)

The parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as part of the U-Link (university link) initiative which seeks to establish a strong and lasting collaboration between ACAM and university partners in China. As the name of the initiative suggests, in addition to ACAM’s collaboration with selected universities, ACAM U-LINK is about acting as a hub for exchange between all university partners connected to ACAM through such agreements: “Our goal is to create synergies and innovation together, so that we can drive the development of competence in R&D in AM and navigate the complexity of the AM world in a joint effort.”, explains Prof. Dr.-Ing. Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum, Managing Director of ACAM.

The U-Link collaboration, the partners and the vision behind the strategic partnership provide a strong foundation for bilateral projects and application-oriented results that will contribute to both the advancement of science and its industrial application.

“The international cooperation between universities and research institutions are very important for China’s universities,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Haowei Wang, Dean of the Institute of Special Materials at Shanghai Jiaotong University. “We will be able to contribute more and faster to the field of AM thanks to learning from each other’s strengths, by producing scientific results that are useful to the future of AM and importantly we hope with this effort to facilitate the transition of our research into industrial practice.”

Picture: AM factory of the Institute of Special Materials (ISM) at Shanghai Jiaotong University

The connection between scientific research and industrial development is an important topic in China as well as in many other markets worldwide. Organizations and markets that have succeeded in establishing a smooth transition to industrial application in addition to constant innovation in research have an advantage in terms of innovative strength and speed. In fact, the deep involvement of industrial partners in applied research even up to the level of joint pre-competitive R&D contributes significantly to innovation power and speed.

ACAM was spun off by researchers of the RWTH Aachen University to build a bridge between AM relevant research and industrial application. From this perspective it will be especially interesting to see if such an ecosphere and spirit of collaboration can also be developed in the setting in China and produce the much-wanted results.

The Institute of Special Materials (ISM) is part of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiaotong University. The research subjects of ISM are mainly focused on the forming and processing of special materials. In recent years, some dramatic breakthroughs have been achieved, specialized in the fields of in-situ synthesis technology, interface and performance, as well as forming and processing, which provide new methodology to the development and application of metal matrix composites (MMCs). In the direction of additive manufacturing, ISM currently has 4 metal laser selective melting 3D printers, 1 blue laser powder deposition additive manufacturing system, 1 arc fuse equipment, and 1 gas atomized metal powder preparation equipment. A series of innovative research results have been achieved in metal material development, powder/wire preparation, and forming technology.

ACAM Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing is based on the RWTH Aachen Campus and pools resources and facilitates industry’s access to the Additive Manufacturing expertise of leading scientific and research institutions associated with RWTH Aachen University and the Fraunhofer society such as IPT and ILT. ACAM covers the entire process chain, from design stage through to quality control and focuses on topics such as process chain automation, the development of customized materials, increasing productivity and reducing turnaround times. Additionally, ACAM offers opportunities for joint research and development, a sophisticated training and education program, as well as an online platform enabling industry members to build business connections and exchange practical knowledge.

Source: ACAM