It\u2019s easy to miss the new lab space tucked into a corner of the Herbert Wertheim Laboratory for Engineering Excellence. In this hermetically sealed room, students are outfitted with\u202fclean suits and\u202fair filtration devices. Sparks are flying.\u202fLasers are blasting.\u202f\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this space, the long-awaited Renishaw AM-400 laser melting system \u2014 more accurately,\u202fa laser powder\u202fbed fusion printer \u2014\u202fis running, having recently undergone required maintenance.\u202fThis kind of\u202fadditive manufacturing, known as L-PBF, is\u202fbasically a\u202f3D printer that prints with metal. It can be configured to use titanium, stainless steel, aluminum, and others. It is now ready for service at UF. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And thanks to Jia\u00a0\u201cPeter\u201d\u00a0Liu, Ph.D., an Industrial Systems & Engineering (ISE)\u00a0associate\u00a0professor\u00a0at the\u00a0University of\u00a0Florida,\u00a0students finally have access to it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liu is the Trey Lauderdale Faculty Fellow in UF’s ISE Department. He\u2019s also the new custodian of this technological marvel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n