Swinburne University invests in Australian-made supersonic 3D printer

Swinburne University has announced the installation of a new supersonic deposition-based 3D printer made by Australian company SPEE3D.

The investment in the new machine was supported by the Victorian government and is a new addition to the university’s Factory of the Future at its Hawthorn campus.

SPEE3D’s Lightspeed printer was comparatively cheap to run, said Associate Professor Suresh Palasinamy, and does not melt metal particles to fuse them together, instead spraying these “at a support plate, layer by layer, through a rocket nozzle using high velocity air, allowing for a much faster build.

“This technology can print complex geometric parts without the need for specialised tools such as fixtures, jigs, gauges, moulds, dies and patterns…The only inputs required are computer-aided design (CAD), compressed air and metal powder.”

SPEE3D announced in June that it had made recent installations in the US and Germany. 

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