New FEUP-NTU partnership advances AM research

According to the University of Porto, the Faculty of Engineering (FEUP) has signed a strategic agreement with NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP), strengthening a partnership that began with a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2025. The Collaboration Agreement creates a long-term framework for joint research, researcher mobility, and integrated doctoral training in additive manufacturing.

The signing, attended by Rector António Sousa Pereira, affirmed his pivotal role in initiating and enabling this collaboration. During the workshop ‘Additive Manufacturing Processes and Technologies’, FEUP Director Rui Calçada stated that this protocol marks a decisive step in FEUP’s international positioning in additive manufacturing. He highlighted the opportunity to merge FEUP’s strengths – from sustainable materials to advanced design, digitalisation, and artificial intelligence – with SC3DP’s infrastructure and industry network. Calçada added that extended research internships in Singapore and the joint development of the ADAPT doctoral program will strengthen talent training and FEUP’s capacity to generate knowledge with real societal impact.

The workshop also introduced ADAPT – Advanced Doctoral Programme in Additive Manufacturing Processes and Technologies, designed by FEUP and SC3DP. ADAPT aims to train top researchers in sustainable and functional materials, automation and intelligent process control, generative design, digital twins, explainable AI, and sustainability applied to additive manufacturing. The program addresses the traditional fragmentation of AM research by integrating materials, processes, and digitalisation, and by engaging industrial partners in Portugal and Singapore.

The agreement also defines FEUP’s participation in the Singapore Research Attachment Programme (SRAP). Between 2026 and 2029, NTU will host six to ten FEUP doctoral students for one- to two-year research internships, offering access to advanced laboratories and deep links with Singapore’s industrial ecosystem.

According to FEUP’s Associate Director for Internationalisation, Gil Gonçalves, this cooperation aligns with FEUP’s strategy of fostering rigorous, long-term partnerships with strong innovation potential. He emphasised that the agreement expands doctoral mobility, strengthens joint research networks, and positions FEUP within a global consortium of excellence in additive manufacturing. Through ADAPT, FEUP reinforces interdisciplinary STEM training and increases the international impact of its research.