Additive Manufacturing: Perspectives from UTEP on Additive Manufacturing as a Transformative Tool

The effective use of additive manufacturing (AM) has enabled the development of improved products like custom soles of running shoes to microturbines for unmanned aircraft.  University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Professor David Espalin will present how AM (or 3D printing) is an important tool for your toolbox, and what resources are available now and in the future.  Listen and ask questions about UTEP case studies including 1) the development of an advanced hearing protection device designed for loud noises like those in military environments, and 2) the integration of 3D printed nozzles to correct inert gas flow within a metals 3D printing machine and improve manufacturing results. 

Speaker: 

David Espalin Jr., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and serves as the Director of Research at UTEP’s W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation – the best-equipped academic laboratory focusing on Additive Manufacturing (AM) in the world. He is also a Research Fellow for the Applied Research Laboratories at The University of Texas at Austin. David Espalin received degrees in mechanical engineering from UTEP (B.S., 2010; M.S., 2012; and Ph.D.; 2017). He leads the Graduate Certificate program in 3D Engineering and AM within UTEP’s Mechanical Engineering Department to fill industry’s need of engineering professionals with AM expertise. His research focus is on the development of hybrid AM technologies to fabricate multifunctional devices, and he leads several efforts focused on the instrumentation of AM technologies to educate process parameter development.