SPEE3D claims Australian SME defence innovation award

Darwin-based additive manufacturing company SPEE3D will be presented with the SME Innovation Award at the Land Forces 2021 event next month.

The company makes 3D printers based on the cold spray method, where powdered metals are blasted onto a substrate at supersonic speeds to build up a part in near-net shape. According to SPEE3D it is the only large-format AM technology “proven field deployable as trialled by the Australian Army.” 

“SPEE3D is delighted to receive this award given the company’s rich history of working with The Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army, Special Forces, and of course, US forces,” said Byron Kennedy, SPEE3D’s founder and CEO, in a statement. 

“For Defence, getting spare parts through regular supply chains to sustain and repair equipment can be difficult, and also very expensive.”

Ian Honnery, CEO of the AMDA Foundation, added, “The quality of the entries received this year are a reflection of both the excellence and ambition of Australian companies serving the country’s defence market,” with an increasing degree of export focus.

SPEE3D recently entered the Latin American market with an installation at El Salvador’s 3D In Metal printing service bureau.

Two trials of the Australian company’s WarpSPEE3D machine (pictured) were completed last year with the Australian Army at the Mount Bundey field training area in 2020, with Royal Corps of Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers workers, designing and manufacturing “over 50 case studies of genuine Australian Army parts.”  

The Land Forces expo will be held in Brisbane, running from 1 – 3 June.

Picture: supplied

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