Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association Commissions Research Project on Sustainability

The Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association (AMGTA), a global trade group created to promote green benefits of additive manufacturing (AM), has selected Jeremy Faludi, Ph.D., a leading researcher of sustainable engineering, to oversee its first commissioned university research project, a literature-based systematic review on the environmental sustainability of metal AM.

“We are excited to announce our first research project and thrilled to be able to work with Dr. Faludi,” says Sherry Handel, the AMGTA’s Executive Director. “This project will provide our membership and the public in general with an excellent survey of existing research on the sustainability benefits of AM.”

Dr. Faludi, LEED AP BD+C, is assistant professor of design engineering at Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands, where he specializes in design for the circular economy and green 3D printing and is adjunct faculty of engineering at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. Dr. Faludi has taught at Stanford University, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and earned a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at University of California Berkeley, a Master of Engineering in Product Design at Stanford University, and a B.A. in Physics from Reed College.

This AMGTA commissioned research paper will be comprised of a literature review of existing studies “describing where metal additive manufacturing provides environmental benefits compared to older manufacturing methods,” notes Handel, further explaining that, “this research may also reveal areas in the manufacturing process where AM could cause higher environmental impacts than older manufacturing methods. Through rigorous, independent and ongoing research the AMGTA will publish research findings and share with industry and other key stakeholders what our eco-footprint is now and what we will need to focus on in the future to be more sustainable.”