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RCBI assists U.S. Navy with 3D printing technology

4/13/2021

Navy sailors aboard the USS Tulsa now have access to 3D printing technology and the know-how to use it thanks, in part, to the Robert C. Byrd Institute (RCBI) at Marshall University and its Apprenticeship Works partner AST2.

RCBI’s Apprenticeship Works and AST2 (Applied Systems & Technology Transfer) recently provided virtual training to help sailors prepare to use 3D printing technology while at sea. The ship’s captain as well as its chief engineer Lt. Andrew Bardwell – himself a user of 3D printers at home – asked for volunteers to sign up for the additive manufacturing (3D printing) pre-apprenticeship.

Members of the ship’s crew were taught to set up, operate and maintain LulzBot 3D printers and learned related computer-aided-design techniques as well as how to operate Artec precision scanning equipment. Once at sea, sailors will practice what they’ve learned by 3D printing components used on the ship.

Read more from the Beckley Register-Herald. 

https://www.register-herald.com/news/rcbi-assists-u-s-navy-with-3d-printing-technology/article_2105a275-ed73-59ae-9f1e-18d77a788376.html