Organizers:
- Maksud Rahman, University of Houston
Description:
Beginning from the time of the hunter-gatherers, followed by the Copper Age several millennia ago, up until the steel age of the 19th century, various tool manufacturing strategies have led to the advancement of human civilization. Additive manufacturing (AM) is the latest of these strategies that have the potential to surpass the limitations of traditional manufacturing techniques due to the greater degree of design, efficiency, manufacturing flexibility, and sustainability that it offers. Among the various AM techniques, direct ink writing (DIW) has emerged as the most versatile 3D printing technique for the broadest range of materials. DIW allows the printing of practically any material as long as the precursor ink can be engineered to demonstrate appropriate rheological behavior. DIW’s unique ability to customize materials allows for an architectural diversity of structures to be designed that meet the applicable standards, ranging from structural components and biomedical devices to aerospace and electronic structures. In this symposium, the recent innovations in DIW of various structural and functional materials will be covered.
Topics of interest:
- DIW of architected structures from various materials, including polymers, ceramics, glass, cement, graphene, metals, and their combinations through multi-material printing.
- Diverse applications of DIW ranging from structures and electronics to food to biomedical.