Mission of the Laser and Additive and Digital Manufacturing Department

We are targeting to upgrade the technical capabilities for the design and manufacturing and innovation of new value-added products – that can access and compete in the global markets in different countries in Egypt, Africa and Arab Countries.  We are targeting to introduce the new industrial technologies like 3D Printing, Freeform Fabrication, Laser based Manufacturing and Computer based Machining to the Egyptian industrial sectors and train new generations of Egyptian engineers on using these technologies,

Pictures for sample products

نهدف إلي دعم و تطوير القطاع الصناعي في مصر  و ربط  البحث  العلمي  التطبيقي  بإحتياجات  الصناعة الفعلية و إدخال تكنولوجيا الصناعة الحديثة المستخدمة في العالم كله - مثل الطباعة ثلاثية الأبعاد و التصنيع بالليزر و ببرامج الكمبيوتر المتقدمة - إلي الشركات الصناعية المصرية و ندعم تدريب شباب الجامعات و شباب المهندسين علي إستخدام تكنولوجيا الصناعة الحديثة ،

History

We started our activities in 2000 as industrial laser research unit  that was developed through an international project funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). We trained in Japanese factories from 2001 to 2003 and received industrial Robot based Laser machining system in our lab

In 2004, we extended our facilities and obtained laser-based Metal Additive Manufacturing (Selective Laser Melting) from “Concept-Laser” , Germany (currently, “GE-Additive”, USA) that was the first metal AM to be installed in Middle East and Africa at that time. Besides, we obtained small 3DSystems MJM machine named “InvisionSI2” that was also first plastic high resolution MJM machine to be installed in our region.

 In 2005, we established the first academic department in CMRDI institute in Egypt that was officially recognized to provide M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in 3DP and AM.

We used our  research and experimental backgrounds in Metals, Metal powders and Powder Metallurgy, Laser materials processing, Welding and Micro-welding, CAD and product design to master the technology of Metal Additive Manufacturing and build value-added products from different materials like Stainless steel, Titanium Alloys and Aluminum alloys for different industries and research applications.

 We started our mission to provide Plastic 3DP and MAM services and technology-transfer to the Egyptian and regional companies and individual and university students.

Facilities

As mentioned above, the core of our facilities in 2004 was the laser based Metal Additive Manufacturing (Selective Laser Melting) from “Concept-Laser” in Germany (currently, “GE-Additive” in USA) that was the first metal AM to be installed in Middle East and Africa and the small 3DSystems MJM machine named “InvisionSI2” that was also first plastic high resolution MJM machine to be installed in our region.

In 2012 and after, we extended our facilities and got EOS FORMIGA P110 SLS that was the first laser plastic SLS to be installed in the region and also we refurbished our old metal SLM machine to get an updated machine with new 200watt fiber laser and recent control system. Moreover, we got DLP resin based 3D printer from “EnvisionTec” and large scale FDM up to 80 Cm.  Our students have built small FDM machines as well.

We have also simultaneous 5 axes milling machining center, two wire EDM, 3 new laser cutting machines with power up to 10KW.  Our running project is to build large scale Robot based 3D printer up to 2 meters in workspace using KUKA robot and plastic extruder head.  Please see our website: www.rpcmrdi.org for our list of facilities and services.

International Cooperation

Due to our unique facilities and multidiscipline research backgrounds that allowed us to master the technology of MAM at early stage specially in Medical Additive Manufacturing, we were lucky to establish international bilaterial cooperation with similar research centers in Germany, UK, USA, South Africa, Malayzia, Romania, China and others.

We had successful partnerships in Two EU funded projects under FP7 and H2020 schemes with European consortiums from UK, Germany, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden.

We had unique cooperation with South Africa that was focused on building Titanium medical implants and patient specific protheses (known as Medical Additive Manufacturing).

Please see our website for a brief description of our international cooperation projects.

Academic Excellence

·   Our department was officially formed as an academic department inside CMRDI institute in 2005. It still the only academic department specialized in 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing and later we added the Digital Manufacturing. 

·   We are officially accredited to supervise and grant  M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees jointly with Egyptian universities.

·   Since 2005, our staff published more than 90 research papers in international and local journals and conferences.  We supervised more than 45 research theses for medical, dentistry, engineering and art students from different universities and from different countries.

·   We supervised Ph.D. thesis for students from India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, etc.,

·   We have developed educational Curriculums and vocational training courses for several universities related to AM, Laser Materials Processing and Digital Manufacturing.

·  We provided technology transfer and hands-on training to industrial companies and interested young entrepreneurs,

·   I am reviewer for 5 international journals that focus on AM, MAM and 3DP,

Services to industry:

• Using our unique facilities, we built hundreds of value-added products to industrial factories in our region. We are the only service center to provide Laser 3DP.

• We were the first to introduce the 3D Printed stents and surgical guides and drilling guides for dentists and We built hundreds of patient-specific protheses from Plastic, Ti6Al4V and Stainless steel 316L powders and most of them were used to treat real patients in Egyptian hospitals,

• We built high strength and high accuracy end-user products and spare parts from Polyamide P12 powders using Selective Laser Sintering on our EOS FORMIGA P110 machine,

• We built hundreds of prototypes for design verification and new patents,

• We built educational models, surgical guides,

• We built large size models up to 80 Cm in space,

• We manufacture products using 5-axes milling, EDM, 3D Laser machining, etc.

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Background and justification:

 The greatest challenge for the development of the countries in Africa and Middle East is to provide fast-growing and sustainable economy and overcome poverty and adverse social conditional via the total development goals. At the top of these goals should be foreign market access which when complemented with industrialization programs and trade capacity building will result in export growth—an important growth pole. Private sector development strategies also play an important role in promoting economic diversification and structural change.

Industrialization has a critical role to play in helping the developing countries to raise growth rates. Productive development is the motive force for applying new technologies to production and the most important source and diffuser of technological innovation. It creates new skills and work attitudes, catalyzes institutional change and breeds modern entrepreneurship. It is the best way of modernizing the export structure and creating the base for sustained export growth along with higher wages. Successful industrialization helps create the employment that poor economies need as they release labor from agriculture, both directly and by stimulating the development of modern services.

Most countries Africa and Middle East rely on importing of necessary tools, jigs, fixtures, dies, moulds and spare parts. These important elements in any manufacturing process become very annoying obstacle due to its high cost and availability which reflects badly on any manufacturing business and its competence in the market. The effect of this can be seen very clear on the variety and quality of products in the local produced goods. For these nations, in order to have good share in the regional and international market, they must improve their production systems and the quality of the products at competitive prices as well. This, in our consideration is due to lack of utilization of advanced technology to limit constrains normally brought with imported plants and machineries.

Using tools such as Computer Aided Design, Manufacturing and Engineering (CAD/CAM/CAE) combined with up-to-date manufacturing practice should open the door to regional engineers and technicians to communicate with the international engineering industries to improve the local and regional enterprises. This, in addition to solving one of the problems in manufacturing engineering, it will close the gab with developed countries and give the developing nations a good platform for advanced research and development and a tool for innovations. For example, even though we can not imagine life without plastic products and no one can escape from using them as flour and bread, the local producers are always lagging behind in modeling, design and manufacturing of the tooling required for such plastic products "no product with new ideas !".

 The Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI) [www.cmrdi.sci.eg], Ministry of Scientific Research has inaugurated the first CAD/CAM/CAE and RPM department in Egypt and North Africa and Arab Region that is aimed at promoting advanced technology among local people. This will have a very good impact in the long term development process.

General Objectives

• Develop human resources in the area of design and manufacturing in engineering industry  using computer facilities and Laser based Manufacturing tools.

• Improve the quality of engineering products made of plastics, metals, ceramics, glass, etc

• Introduce value added products for export to the global market

• Improve the industrial environment and infrastructure to encourage foreign investors.

• Increase the variety of products that can be competitive to other imported goods.

• Increase the exporting potential.

• Improve skill and capabilities of African engineers.

• Contribute to GDP of the targeted countries by increasing export and reducing import.

• Create continental awareness of the important of advanced technology in manufacturing.

• Culture changes towards industrial society.

Specific Objectives

Provide technology transfer, know-how, training, consultations, marketing studies and communication facilities for regional industrial companies.

• Help the SME’s in the targeted countries to produce new products and improve the add-value to their products by using the newly developed IT trends.

• Help industrial companies to improve their productivity and quality by installing new system automation technologies such as automatic control circuits, sensors, data acquisition systems and automatic handling and robotic systems.

• Help to create new generation of industrial engineers that have professional experience of IT. Those engineers are able to design, implement and maintain sophisticated IT systems by themselves to improve and modernize the industrial activities.

• Provide training in different IT related subjects for senior and junior engineers from different companies and projects in Africa and the Arab countries and these subjects include CAD/CAM, electronics and communication skills.

• Provide the tools required to design and produce complex products such as casting dies and mechanical and structural components. These tools can be used to provide the design as ready-made solutions or to provide training and technology transfer to teach design engineers from different companies how to use IT design software to develop their own design solutions.

•  Provide advanced computer analysis and simulation work. For example, to predict the life and deformation of a certain component, under multiple static and dynamic thermal and mechanical conditions.

•  Apply the new concepts of 3D scanning and rapid prototyping systems to produce new products and redesign defective products (Reverse engineering.)

•  Collect and archive industrial and technical data in electronic databases.

•  Increase the awareness of computer communications and building up new networks.

For more details, please contact Dr. Khalid Abdelghany :  kghany@rpcmrdi.org