Embry-Riddle Researchers Awarded Funding for Equipment for Composite 3D Printing

Embry-Riddle researchers were awarded Office of Naval Research (ONR) funding for new composite 3D printing equipment related to research investigating the strength and stiffness of 3D-printed, fiber-reinforced aerospace parts.

Drs. Ali Tamijani, Sirish Namilae and Ebenezer P. Gnanamanickam, who are faculty members of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, received a $260,412 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) grant for the new equipment. DURIP grants support university research infrastructure needed for Navy-relevant research.

The new equipment will print aerospace grade-quality continuous fiber composite needed for other ONR projects investigating the strength and stiffness of optimized 3D-printed continuous fiber-reinforced aerospace parts, said Tamijani, who is the principal investigator.

“The higher stiffness of printed parts will also enable the manufacturing of designs for wind tunnel models that reduces the production cost and the time from design to testing,” said Tamijani.

Tamijani is also the CEO of Novineer, an engineering design firm that builds modeling, design and simulation software for 3D printing and is located in the MicaPlex facility in Embry-Riddle's Research Park.