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Calhoun among five colleges and universities worldwide selected to receive additive manufacturing equipment from GE Additive

June 25, 2018

Decatur, AL – According to a press release issued today by GE Additive, Calhoun Community College is among five colleges and universities worldwide to be chosen to receive additive manufacturing equipment from the company. The Calhoun equipment award is valued at $250,000.

GE Additive has concluded its 2018-19 cycle of its Additive Education Program (AEP) by announcing that five educational institutions in Europe and the United States were selected to receive a Concept Laser Mlab 200R machine. The direct metal laser melting (DMLM) additive manufacturing systems, worth more than $1.25 million in total, are scheduled to be delivered to the colleges in the first quarter of 2019. DMLM machines use lasers to melt layers of fine metal powder and create complex geometries with incredible precision directly from a CAD file.

According to GE Additive, more than 500 proposals were received in the University and College category from around the world. Following a thorough review, GE Additive selected five higher-education institutions in the very competitive process. In addition to Calhoun, which was the only community college to be chosen, the other institutions selected were:

  • Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Germany
  • University of Limerick, Republic of Ireland
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
  • West Virginia University, USA

“I am thrilled that Calhoun is one of the recipients of a metal printer from GE Additive,” commented Nina Bullock, program director for additive manufacturing at Calhoun. “We are the only community college in the state of Alabama that offers a degree in Additive Manufacturing. This machine will certainly help to advance our program and provide even greater opportunities for our students to gain very valuable hands-on experience with this state-of-the-art system,” added Bullock.

GE Additive has made a significant financial commitment over five years to invest in educational programs to deliver polymer 3D printers to primary and secondary schools and metal 3D printers to colleges and universities around the world.

Now in its second year, the AEP has awarded polymer 3D printers and curriculum to more than 1,000 primary and secondary schools in 50 states and more than 30 countries and metal additive manufacturing systems to 13 colleges and universities worldwide.

“For additive to fulfill its potential, we need to attract as many engineers and materials scientists as possible to build their careers in our industry,” said Jason Oliver, president and CEO, GE Additive. “Getting machines onto campus and into the hands of undergraduates, researchers and faculty members is a sure fire way of getting them as excited about additive as we are.

More than 400,000 students worldwide will now have access to 3D printers thanks to the GE Additive Education Program.