America Makes Awards GE & LLNL With Big Money for the Creation of Algorithm Software

America Makes has awarded $540,000 to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and General Electric (GE) in order to further R&D in selective laser melting (SLM) technology. LLNL and GE Global Research will undertake an 18-month project to develop a software that will standardize an approach to SLM machines to open up the metal 3D printing space to more pubic and private organizations. The software is intended to be an open-source resource to add a level of consistency to SLM processes. Researchers from the LLNL offer a strong background in laser know-how, while GE researchers are working on the software side to control the scanning laser's settings to account for material properties and print parameters. Find out more about this innovation-driven partnership in the full article: http://3dprint.com/51125/llnl-ge-slm-software-grant/


Below is a photo of a group of researchers from LLNL and GE:
http://3dprint.com/wp-content/upload...-Gabe-Guss.jpg

Out of all organizations to fund, I'm pretty sure GE doesn't need the money. Great company, but it doesn't need any additional funding. They have the millions of cash flow for this. Props to them regardless.