GE, Clemson University Partner on AM Lab

General Electric has opened an additive manufacturing lab under its strategic partnership with Clemson University.

GE dedicated 1,000 ft.² of GE Power division’s Advanced Manufacturing Works facility in Greenville, South Carolina, to the lab, which houses three GE 3D printers that print both polymer and metal. One of the three printers uses GE Additive’s direct metal laser melting (DMLM) technology.

The facility is Clemson’s first additive manufacturing lab hosted by a corporate partner. The university’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing will manage the lab, which will be available to Clemson faculty, staff and students.

Students are expected to receive hands-on experience with 3D printing, preparing them to enter South Carolina’s advanced manufacturing workforce.

Students are scheduled to begin training in spring 2019 with GE technicians on specific additive manufacturing processes, as well as machine operations and postprocessing techniques. Graduate students in Clemson’s Department of Automotive Engineering will be the first to take advantage of the lab.

“We will be able to train students to be the next generation of engineers, furthering their education and preparing them to move additive manufacturing forward,” says John Lammas, GE power chief engineer and CTO.