INFN proposal ranked among the best technology transfer projects selected by the Regione Veneto
The technology transfer project proposed by INFN and the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Padua ended up among the top ranked by the Regione Veneto in the evaluation of proposals submitted to the annual call POR-FSE 2014/20.
With the funds obtained, two young engineers will be hired for one year in a post-doc position dedicated to technological research and, after an initial period of training-on-the-job by the INFN Mechanical Design Group and the Metallographic Analysis Laboratory of the Engeneering Dept., they will dedicate their efforts to the development of innovative additive manufacturing applications in two sectors that are seminal for the local industrial fabric: biomedical appliances and fashion related products.
INFN, a Research Institution that has been granted by the Regione Veneto the status of “Centro di Formazione Superiore” (Higher Education Center), constantly participates in European, National and Regional projects that focus on innovation and technology transfer, thus contributing with a proactive attitude to the dissemination of technical knowledge and technologies to Industrial partners. Recently, in the context of the Industry 4.0 Initiative, INFN has promoted R&D activities in strategic innovative sectors like micro–mechanics, thermal and surface treatments and additive manufacturing technologies, where significant competences have been built up via the engagement in cutting edge scientific projects.
This project fits in the course started in 2016 to explore the potential of additive manufacturing for metallic materials, a revolutionary approach that opens the way to fast prototyping and to the development of new geometrical patterns so far not even conceivable, simplifying the design and shortening the step leading to final production.
The route taken by INFN in collaboration with Padua University Departments, has led to the creation of the DIAM Lab that is devoted to the development of these technologies and to material research while offering to the academic research community as well as to local businesses its competences and the access to the SLM 3D printers for R&D goals.
In the feature image the picture of a prototype of a very high efficiency beam-dump component, manufactured in ultra-pure copper for the SPES facility at the LNL INFN Laboratories by DIAM researchers as part of the POR-FSE 5687-1-2121-2015 project (in collaboration with Officina dei Materiali SaS and SISMA SpA).