Show-Me State now shows US; developing hub for innovation, education to support holistic manufacturing.

Due to ongoing difficulties in the supply chain, Kummer Institute's Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Missouri University of Science and Technology decided to ignore the chain altogether and purchase a large-format metal 3D printer from SPEE3D for its future manufacturing campus to support local business by giving them the environment and education to make on their own.

Based on feedback and input from manufacturers, which reported the process of acquiring traditionally manufactured parts has become increasingly difficult due to irregularities in the supply chain, and having already experienced SPEE3D's WarpSPEE3D metal 3D printers, Missouri S&T hopes its newest piece of hardware can give local manufacturers a much-needed competitive edge.

"For Missouri manufacturers to succeed on the global stage, additive manufacturing must become the new normal," said Richard Billo, director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Kummer Institute.

Not just aiming for some light-duty classroom to host weekend warriors, the printer purchase is part of the larger Missouri Protoplex – the future manufacturing innovation hub for the state of Missouri.

Kummer's Missouri vision

As a 1955 civil engineering graduate of Missouri S&T, Fred Kummer founded HBE Corp., a St. Louis-based construction and design-build company specializing in healthcare facilities, that grew into a formidable business.

Supporting his alma mater through the years, Kummer would make his final donation in 2020 with a $300 million gift to spur innovation for future generations within the Show-Me State.

"Fred and June's vision for their generous gift was to elevate S&T's stature as a leading research university, broaden access to education in STEM fields, and have a strong economic impact for our state and region," said Missouri University of Science and Technology Chancellor Mo Dehghani. "The Missouri Protoplex aligns well with every aspect of their vision."

After obtaining a $50 million commitment for the project, the Missouri Protoplex will become the headquarters for a planned state-wide ecosystem where experts, innovators, small and large businesses, entrepreneurs, educators and policymakers develop and adopt the technologies needed to create and sustain manufacturing jobs throughout the state.

"We are very grateful to Gov. Parson for his support of this vision to advance our state's manufacturing sector," said Dehghani. "The Missouri Protoplex will provide the state-of-the-art facilities, expertise and technical knowledge, or 'tech-know,' to prepare our state's workforce for the future. This initiative also builds on our strong and longstanding partnerships with Missouri industry."

Lightning-fast SPEE3D printers

Founded in 2015, SPEE3D spun out of a successful engineering venture that provided the capital necessary for the founders to explore their next undertaking – additive manufacturing.

However, what sets SPEE3D's metal 3D printers apart from the rest is its "supersonic 3D deposition" technology. Rather than using heat to melt metal powders as conventional metal 3D printers do, this patented process accelerates air up to three times the speed of sound through a rocket nozzle.

The sheer kinetic energy of the particles colliding then causes the powder to bind together and form a high-density part with metallurgical properties superior to casting.

As for Missouri S&T, the university has already been using SPEE3D's WarpSPEE3D for project work, which has helped deepen the knowledge and skillset needed to support manufacturers transition toward new production methods, such as geometry constraints, material properties, and heat treatment requirements.

Along with other equipment that will be purchased over the course of the next two years, the printer will be key to making workforce development holistic.

Already, plans are underway to modernize how the university will teach manufacturing to undergraduates by incorporating technologies that will make it possible for students to gain hands-on experience with developing products and methods.

"From the classroom, to the factory floor, to executive suites where strategic decisions are made that set the course at the industry level, people need to be knowledgeable about this technology," said Billo. "At S&T, we need to ensure that our undergraduate and graduate students are skilled in this area as they enter the workforce."

A key mandate of the $300 million gift June and Fred Kummer made to Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2020 was to connect what is being researched, discovered, and taught at colleges and universities to what the region's manufacturers need to compete in a marketplace that is increasingly driven by technology.

The workforce development required to forge those connections, Billo says, goes beyond training those who operate the machinery.

"These emerging additive manufacturing technologies are critical to the development of innovative new products, and our students must be skilled in usage of these technologies for the U.S. to maintain its competitive edge in the world marketplace," Billo added. "We're also developing programs that will get K-12 kids from our region excited about the technology."