Meet one of our four nominees for The Otto Mønsted Foundation's MADE Award 2020: Venkata Karthik Nadimpalli. He is nominated for developing new steel powders for AM and improving sensor-based certification process chains at LEGO, FORCE Technology and Grundfos. The winner of the award will be announced September 24 (att. this event is cancelled and will be replaced by an online event this fall).
Counting down to The Otto Mønsted Foundation's MADE Award, MADE introduces our four nominees through our series "Five Sharp for a Nominee".
In this article we meet Venkata Karthik Nadimpalli who is nominated for his participation in the project 'Additive manufacturing as part of advanced/conventional process chains'.
“Venkata has made a significant contribution to the MADE Digital cooperation by facilitating collaboration between various part-projects and exploring fundamental aspects both in terms of scientific development and industrial implementation. I therefore strongly support Venkata’s nomination to The Otto Mønsted Foundation’s MADE Award 2020,” writes Peter Tommy Nielsen Head of 3D Print & AM Technology at FORCE Technology in his nomination of Venkata for this year’s Otto Mønsted Foundation’s MADE Award.
What is your project all about?
My project is about materials, process, and sensor framework development for metal Additive Manufacturing (AM), known as 3D printing. During my project, I developed new steel powders for AM, built an open-architecture metal AM system with a sensor module, and improved sensor-based certification process chains at LEGO, FORCE Technology & Grundfos.
Why is it important?
MADE partners across Denmark have invested in metal AM systems and seek to develop confidence in the part quality through process sensor data instead of the current expensive approach of destructive testing and CT scanning. Multi-sensor data captured during the AM process leads to a digital twin. My project has improved the fundamental understanding of the AM digital twin, hence leading to immediate certification during the manufacturing process.
How will your project help the industry?
The wider adoption of metal AM for critical functional components has begun among MADE partners. The materials development efforts have led to a new MADE Demonstration project between Nordisk Staal, FORCE Technology, and Technical University of Denmark. The sensor framework development has led to collaboration with MADE partner Euler3D for commercializing the lab-scale sensor setup. The process chain development at LEGO and Grundfos has led to new AM certification procedures.
How far are you and what will be your next step?
My MADE postdoc contract was finalized in July 2020, and I am currently working on building the metal AM group at the Section of Manufacturing, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark. The focus is on next-generation bespoke materials development and pushing the boundaries of the state-of-the-art (SOTA) with open architecture AM systems.
How will you use the money if you win the award?
I will use the money to travel for a research stay at Fraunhofer IFAM, to work with the gas atomization group. They are working on SOTA systems for making sustainable AM powders from scrap using next-generation alloy materials. The collaboration will foster the development of sustainable AM materials produced locally in Denmark.
About nominee: Venkata Karthik Nadimpalli
- Venkata was a Post Doc from MADE Digital at the Section of Manufacturing Engineering at Technical University of Denmark Mechanical Engineering.
- He is currently working on building the metal AM group at the Section of Manufacturing, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark.
The Otto Mønsted Foundation's MADE Award
- The award will be presented to a Ph.D. student or Postdoc working with one of the five Danish universities (AAU, AU, CBS, DTU and SDU) in MADE.
- The winner is announced on September 24. 2020 (att. this event is cancelled and will be replaced by an online event this fall).
- The first prize winner will receive 100,000 DKK and the second prize winner will receive 50,000 and both prize winners will receive a diploma and an art price.
About the project
- David Bue Pedersen, Senior Researcher at Technical University of Denmark, nominated Venkata.
- Project title: Additive manufacturing as part of advanced/conventional process chains
- Project timeline: 2018-2020
- Industrial partners involved: Grundfos, LEGO Systems A/S, 3D Printhuset A/S.
