SISSA, the International School for Advanced Studies based in Trieste Italy, focused on conducting leading-edge scientific research and educating post-graduate students in new research programs.
Challenges:
SISSA needs the best 3D printer to conduct leading-edge scientific research and educate post-graduate students.
Solutions:
The arrival of a new 3D printer from 3D Systems marks the start of a “mechatronic” age at SISSA. The new laboratory being set up using 3D printers from 3D Systems will enable SISSA researchers to be increasingly self-sufficient in designing and constructing experiments, and building specialized machinery needed for their studies.
With this sophisticated equipment, including a new generation ProJet multi-jet (MJP) 3D printer, and the laboratory’s expertise, scientists will no longer have to adapt their research to the constraints of existing technology but will be able to work more creatively, developing technology that fits their needs better. “We have the opportunity for virtually endless creative possibilities,” comments Marco Gigante, the engineer in charge of 3D design at SISSA’s new Mechatronics Laboratory.
The laboratory, headed by Mathew Diamond, a neuroscientist and coordinator of the Neuroscience Area of SISSA in Trieste, combines the fields of mechanics, electronics and informatics and supports all the research projects carried out within SISSA, a virtually unique center among Italian scientific research institutions.
“Many experiments conducted by our research scientists rely on experimental setups that are designed in great detail and controlled electronically with extreme precision,” explains Fabrizio Manzino, in charge of the laboratory’s software development. “The research scientists come to us and we work together on the experimental setup until we’re ready to construct the machinery in all its parts.”
Benefits:
As of today, this activity will be even more creative: “This new machine prints at a high resolution – 16 microns – and allows us to develop highly complex objects and single-build assemblies, even with moving parts inside – something that cannot be done with traditional production methods”, explains Erik Zorzin, in charge of electronics.
Before the arrival of the ProJet MJP, the process of crafting the mechanical parts was very complicated “and costly,” adds Manzino. “We had to make somewhat imprecise molds and work by approximation. Often we couldn’t build the object all in one piece, but we had to model the single parts and then assemble them.”
“We are excited by the vision of SISSA as they realize that 3D printing delivers the flexibility they need to go further in their research than ever before,” said Alessandro Favaro, owner and co-founder of 3DZ Treviso Srl. “3D Systems’ technologies are the only option when customers need serious industrial solutions for their work.”