Nov 23, 2015 | By Benedict
Healthcare company Johnson & Johnson has provided a set of 3D printers for the University of North Florida to encourage students to undertake research in 3D printing technology. The seven new machines signaled the opening of the university’s new 3D printing lab.
Images credit: LINDSEY KILBRIDE WJCT NEWS
It is an unfortunate fact that 3D printers remain inaccessible to many potential users, due to the significant price tag attached to even the most basic of machines. Whilst large companies can afford to purchase dozens of high-end 3D printers, young scholars and researchers are often unable to get near the technology at all. Universities across the globe are beginning to see the advantages of purchasing 3D printers for research purposes, but there are still tight budget constraints which must be considered before such an outlay is made. Researchers must give convincing proposals to their institutions in order to secure funding for cutting-edge additive manufacturing technology, and that funding is often simply unavailable. Fortunately, those wealthy, technology-laden companies occasionally make deals with universities, providing the educational institutions with much-needed equipment in exchange for sponsored research and other bonuses. Johnson & Johnson is one of those companies, and the healthcare giant has just teamed up with the University of North Florida to encourage students to research and develop new 3D printing technologies.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday November 20th saw UNF open its brand new 3D printing lab, which contains seven 3D printers provided by Johnson & Johnson. The lab will be used to enable a variety of research projects, one of those being biomedical uses of 3D printing technology. “We’re working with materials that can be utilized in the biomedical industry and being able to print those on 3D Printers, it makes it a lot easier to make them,” explained Chris Barker, Mechanical Engineering student at UNF. “Certain shapes you couldn’t manufacture in other ways. So it’s really a very integrated system.”
Mark Tumeo, Dean of UNF's College of Computing, Engineering and Construction, emphasized the importance of using the new suite of 3D printers for research into and production of medical devices and implants. “What we’re researching here is the use of novel materials,” said the dean. “They’ll take an MRI of your knee, feed that data into the computer and while you’re getting ready for surgery it will print an actual replacement knee that is perfectly specified for you. So that’s the goal, the long-term goal.”
Tumeo believes UNF to be undertaking the most advanced 3D printed medical implant research in Florida. “This is one of the cutting-edge areas of advanced manufacturing, and we’re a leader in the state,” he explained. “With Johnson & Johnson, we can be a leader in the nation and the world.”
Peyton Hopson, Engineering fellow with Johnson & Johnson, went to the ribbon-cutting ceremony to talk to students about the numerous potentials of 3D printing technology. To demonstrate one particular aspect, he showed an absorbed audience a 3D printed pink and yellow plastic wrench, printed on one of the university’s new machines. The wrench is no ordinary creation: Despite its moving parts, the device was printed in just one piece. “So this is basically a simple wrench with an actuating part in it that sort of opens and closes,” Hopson said. “It was generated with no assembly whatsoever.”
Image credit: LINDSEY KILBRIDE WJCT NEWS
Hopson hopes that students will be able utilize and develop 3D printing technology such as that which built the single-piece wrench. To strengthen both research and business in the local area, Johnson & Johnson also hopes that the facilities will encourage students to keep their talents in Jacksonville. If being in Florida enables those students to produce the best possible 3D printed medical devices, we hope so too.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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