Deep Tech and 3D Printing: Transforming Advanced Manufacturing

What is deep tech?

The name brings to mind mysterious, vague, inchoate ideas of complicated scientific concepts, but, in fact, deep tech has several real-world applications that are transforming the way we live.

3D printing was present during the first deep tech wave, transitioning into a legitimate, supplementary method of manufacturing. However, the advent of other deep technologies, including AI, machine learning, and digital twins, has begat a new breed: advanced manufacturing.

AMFG are the authority on enabling the next wave of manufacturing; in this article, we demystify deep tech, explore how 3D printing is enhancing innovation and production, and outline the technologies with which your company can integrate to advance important goals.

Deep tech explained

Deep tech refers to advanced technologies that are rooted in substantial scientific or engineering innovation and are designed to answer complex, prescient challenges. Deep tech solutions fuse cutting-edge science and engineering, going beyond conventional advancement and revolutionising processes with advances previously thought unimaginable.

These technologies strive to redesign or create new processes, not just improve those that already exist; not just bettering existing markets, but disrupting them and creating new ones. At the root of this goal is the desire to change lives by addressing global challenges, such as climate change, sustainable energy, and health.

Deep tech start-ups differ from commercial ones, requiring long R&D cycles and capital investment, with success measured in technological milestones rather than being profit-oriented.

Several technologies have historically been considered ‘deep’, however the emergence of artificial intelligence and other technologies have brought the sector’s potential back into the limelight.

Beyond AI and machine learning, quantum computing is a cornerstone of deep tech. Likewise, biotechnology, nanotechnology, digital twins, the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, advanced and composite materials, network integration, 5G, genomics, cybersecurity, semiconductors, virtual reality, web 3.0, and blockchain are all being explored.

For an example, one can turn to Switzerland, who have invested in emerging technologies, such as robotics, AI, and nanotechnology. Companies are leveraging these investments to transform traditional manufacturing processes, improving their sustainability and efficiency whilst producing high-quality products. Online resource KnowHow identifies Neural Concept and Resistell AG as representatives of the Swiss deep tech drive; the former focusing on deep learning algorithms for industrial engineering, and Resistell developing antibiotic resistance tests with nanomotion technology.

How additive manufacturing works with other deep technologies

Additive manufacturing is the perfect case study of a technology present during the first wave of deep tech that is now combining with other technologies to innovate and produce solutions previously thought impossible.

The advent of 3D printing pushed scientific boundaries, promising to revolutionise manufacturing with design optimisation and customisation and potentially removing the need for traditional manufacturing techniques completely.

Whilst additive manufacturing has altered production methods, it has generally been supplementary to other techniques in discrete manufacturing. However, companies in deep tech are integrating additional cutting edge technologies with AM to produce an advanced manufacturing.

Here are some of the technologies that scientists are integrating with 3D printing into advanced manufacturing:

Digital twins[spacer height="20px"]

A virtual twin is a virtual replica of a physical system, product, or process that allows real-time simulation, monitoring, and analysis. From the output of the model, scientists can make predictions about the behaviour of the actual entity, and make or change decisions in the real world.

Incorporating twin technology into additive manufacturing facilitates a host of innovative, unprecedented capabilities. Manufacturers can produce optimised parts that work on the first run, with no need for physical testing. Beyond creating a high quality component, cost and environmental impact is significantly reduced when 3D printing uses twin technology.

For example, 3D printing twin technology is being developed in defence applications, with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarding up to $10.3 million to a University of Michigan to investigate how long 3D-printed metal parts would last in the field.

Click here for an in-depth exploration of twin technology and AM.

AI[spacer height="20px"]

AI is booming across all sectors, pervading every part of our lives. However, far from ChatGPT, additive manufacturers are leveraging artificial intelligence to achieve production efficiency, high levels of precision, and improved quality control.

Manufacturers are employing purposeful software, using AI to rethink and redesign production lines. However, moving away from commercial production, AI and 3D printing are addressing serious problems.

A group of Australian researchers from Macquarie University have received a $2 million grant to invest in a technology that ‘prints’ cancer cells in 3D and uses AI software to analyse them. With the project, the Australian Cancer Research Foundation strives to deliver personalised cancer treatments for patients with tumours that are rare or difficult to treat.

Sustainability [spacer height="20px"]

One of the principles at the core of deep tech is sustainability, and advanced additive manufacturing is achieving this goal.

Production processes produce less waste, improve energy efficiency, and facilitates a circular economy. Materials are only added when needed, and waste material can be recycled– a significant development in recycling procedures.

Eco 3D Parts, with whom AMFG collaborates, reduces the high levels of discarded powder wasted in landfills across Europe by reusing the material to print parts that only need to comply with dimensional accuracy.

3D printing, when combined with other deep technologies, can feed into a circular economy by creating its own materials, creating a new sector of manufacturing.

Bioprinting[spacer height="20px"]

Bioprinting uses 3D printing technology to generate organic cell structures rather than plastic or metal parts. This makes it possible to print functional tissue, which can then be used in medical research, or for transplant purposes.

This biotechnology accelerates innovations in the treatment of various diseases through life-saving medicines and facilitates patient-specific treatments. Additionally, automation and data-driven manufacturing techniques help improve production efficiency and reduce errors in the supply chain– see AMFG’s collaboration with ToolKit3D for a case study.

The applications for 3D bioprinting in the medical industry are vast and varied. AMFG has written about a system able to create structures that closely replicate the diverse tissues of the human body, such as soft brain tissue, and harder cartilage and bone. Similarly, the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) recently announced progress in adapting xolography, a novel light-based 3D printing technique, to the printing of living cells.

[caption id="attachment_44334" align="aligncenter" width="700"]

The TU/e xolography system. Image courtesy of TU/e[/caption]

Nanotechnology[spacer height="20px"]

Combining deep tech with additive manufacturing processes makes it possible to create materials with characteristics that are specific to a given use, often at the molecular or atomic level, which is not possible with traditional production technologies. A current central point of focus for deep tech is the creation of new materials to meet pressing needs existential to humanity, and 3D printed nanotech is addressing these challenges.

3D printed nanotechnology has implications for a broad range of industries, including medical, but one area in which it is being implemented is aerospace. The future of space travel rests on our ability to develop stronger, lighter, and more readily available materials. A group from the University of Toronto have used a Bayesian optimisation machine learning algorithm to analyse different 3D printed nanostructures to determine which possessed the most optimal characteristics for future space travel.

Final thoughts

3D printing has moved from an exciting new tool, to a conventional manufacturing method, and is now once again being employed for the potential it holds in tandem with other deep technologies.

From medical to defence applications, advanced manufacturing is driving the deep tech renaissance.

Governments and investors are realising the potential when 3D printing is combined with other cutting edge technologies.

AI and software integration will be key for this integration to occur; the key to elevating advanced manufacturing to its full potential.

Speed and efficiency is of paramount importance– find a software solution to help scale operations today by chatting with one of our experts.

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