Additive Manufacturing for Custom Design: Process and Evaluation and Cost Management

Custom devices are challenging in design and manufacturing cost and require more time to be made. Using Additive Manufacturing (AM) proved to be more suitable in reducing the cost and time regardless of the geometric complexity of the part to be made. AM transforms the way some products are made. These aspects made AM gain lots of momentum in the last decade. In this communication, we will show how to introduce students to advanced design concepts using AM and real life scenarios to make custom parts. Most of these custom products will address the challenges of the medical industry which is the largest one in the USA. Students will be exposed to different software packages and different design and fabrication techniques. The goal of this project is to illustrate the future of additive manufacturing technology, how to prepare students to become the future experts in this field, and to provide a model that can be adopted by academic institution. Survey for some of the main activities were conducted and evaluated.