The Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg (BTU) and APWORKS GmbH from Taufkirchen near Munich signed a cooperation agreement at the beginning of March which lays the ground for a joint “3DLab”. APWORKS is a 100 percent subsidiary of the aerospace industry supplier Premium AEROTEC and, among other things, is planning to exploit the potential of additive series manufacturing in the aerospace sector, from spare parts to ultra lightweight engineering.

“In collaboration with the BTU, we will develop additive manufacturing further to establish series production of numerous metallic components in future,” explains Joachim Zettler, CEO of APWORKS. In the new center, the firm will be working with its customers primarily to develop pre-series of components in the aerospace and vehicle industries and in the medical sector, while drawing directly on the expertise of the BTU. At the same time, the university will carry out theoretical and practical research in the latest areas.