It is our privilege to present the fourth progress report of the NSERC Network for Holistic Innovation in Additive Manufacturing (HI-AM). This report summarizes the research outcomes and network activities that took place between July 2021 and December 2022.
The HI-AM Network was established in 2017 as a 5-year project, initially expected to end by June 2022. Disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic limited our researchers’ access to university campuses and research facilities for over a year, hence the Network duration was extended for a period of two years. We appreciate the approval of the requested extension by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), allowing the HI-AM teams to complete their projects during the extension.
As the Network is progressing through its first extension year (Year 6), we are very grateful for the support and dedication of all our members including 19 Principal Investigators from University of Waterloo, Dalhousie University, Université Laval, McGill University, University of Toronto, University of Alberta, and The University of British Columbia; 131 highly qualified personnel; four academic collaborators; and ten international academic partners. Furthermore, we recognize the contributions of the members of the Board of Directors, the Scientific Advisory Committee, and the Commercialization and Outreach Advisory Committee.
The HI-AM Network is based on close collaborations between academia, industry, and government agencies. Over the past few years, we have developed strong partnerships with 22 industry, government, and non-profit organizations committed to the success of the Network. We have immensely benefitted from these collaborations and are excited to see the continued interest of the industry partners in the HI-AM research activities, as reflected through the provision of in-kind services beyond their original commitments and into the extension years.
The Network has produced substantial results through its 39 projects across four research themes under the supervision of the Network principal investigators. More than 405 journal and conference papers have been produced through these projects and seven invention disclosures have been filed. Furthermore, two ASTM standard/best practice drafts are under evaluation as a result of our partnership with ASTM International announced in 2021. Across research themes and R&D teams, interesting and impactful results continue to emerge as the Network is nearing completion after years of dedicated research and planning.
After holding the 2020 and 2021 conferences virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to welcome more than 200 Network members and external guests to the HI-AM Conference in person during this reporting period. The conference took place on June 21-22, 2022, in Montreal and featured 105 oral and poster presentations. This conference would not have been possible without the contributions of many individuals and organizations. In particular, we would like to extend our appreciation to NSERC, University of Waterloo, McGill University, Leichtbau BW GmbH, Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing Lab, Canada Makes, Metal AM Magazine, EOS, GE Additive, AP&C, Promation, Desktop Metal, Keyence, Phaseshift Technologies, Opti-Tech Scientific, Retinex, C-Therm, Xact Metal, and Tronos.
We appreciate you taking the time to read this report, and we hope you find it useful. To learn more about the Network’s statistics and progress, please explore the HI-AM Network website at https://nserc-hi-am.ca/. If you need any further information, please feel free to contact our Network Manager, Farzad Liravi, at fliravi@uwaterloo.ca.
Ralph Resnick, Chair of the Board of Directors
Ehsan Toyserkani, Network Director