Additive Industries and Sauber F1 Team sign 3 year technology partnership on metal AM
At Rapid.Tech in Erfurt, Germany, one of the leading 3D printing conferences in Europe, Additive Industries and Sauber F1 Team have announced that Sauber will be the launching customer for the MetalFAB1 Process & Application Development Tool. While several F1 teams have used AM technologies already, this announcement follows the 4-year partnership between Stratasys and McLaren, as another Formula 1 team has come out revealing how they intend to increase their use of 3D printing technology.
“We are honored to be invited to join the Sauber F1 Team as a Technology Partner. Sauber has been the launchpad for champions for decades, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel all started their careers at this unique private Swiss team. The professionalism of the Sauber F1 Team as well as their drive for technological innovation, they own one of the most advanced automotive wind tunnels in the world, fits beautifully with our quest for industrial excellence”, said Daan Kersten, CEO of Additive Industries.
This launching customership is part of a three-year technology partnership between the two companies. Steffen Schrodt, Head of Wind Tunnel Operations at Sauber F1 Team and Christoph Hansen responsible for additive manufacturing presented this partnership during their key-note speech at Rapid.Tech. Sauber F1 Team, a long-term expert in 3D polymer printing will invest in two industrial MetalFAB1 3D metal printing systems over the course of two years to expand their additive manufacturing competencies to the metal domain.
These Process & Application Development Tools will be upgraded later to full size integrated multi-material MetalFAB1 systems for series production. Additive Industries will support the additive manufacturing team of Sauber in ramping up the capacity and quickly climb the learning curve to 3D print parts for the Sauber F1 race cars as well as third-party applications.
“We are delighted to welcome Additive Industries on board as our new technological partner at the Sauber F1 Team. Since this innovative fabrication technology is still in the early stages of industrialisation, it is an ideal moment for us to take on this challenge with our new partner. By doing so, we will gain and develop the necessary know-how in this area. It is our mission to set new standards”, added Sauber F1 Team CEO & Team Principal, Monisha Kaltenborn.
The partnership with Sauber F1 Team underlines the ambition of Additive Industries to become a leading 3D metal printing system manufacturer in demanding markets like aerospace, automotive, medical implants and high tech equipment.
