Metal additive manufacturing has never been an easy fit for a research lab. Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) means a laser safety enclosure, powder handling protocols, an inert atmosphere and three-phase power. Binder jetting adds a debinding and sintering chain on the back end. Either way, aluminum research sits behind a wall of infrastructure that most departments cannot justify. 3Dnatives and ValCUN will look at what changes when that requirement disappears, with researchers from the University of Manchester and the University of Twente presenting what they found working with ValCUN’s Minerva printer and its Molten Metal Deposition (MMD) process.
September 24, 2026 | 10 – 11 AM EDT / 4 – 5 PM CEST, including live Q&A
What We’ll Cover:
MMD melts industry-standard aluminum wire and deposits it in a single step. The Minerva system runs on a single-phase 110 V or 230 V connection, weighs 1.1 tonnes and fits through a standard doorway, with no ATEX certification, gas infrastructure or clean room required. Process parameters, data capture, nozzle configuration and material selection are all left open to the user.
▸ Where MMD sits among aluminum processes: how single-step wire deposition compares with powder-based aluminum AM on cost, footprint and lead time, and which applications it does and does not suit.
▸ What Manchester measured: how nozzle and substrate temperature influence melt-pool behavior, microstructure, defect formation and mechanical performance in aluminum alloy 4043.
▸ Why open architecture matters for research: what full parameter access and raw data capture enable for experimental design, reproducibility and publication.
▸ Whether AM can support remanufacturing: European manufacturers face growing pressure to build a remanufacturing route into their products. Twente shares early direction from the Dutch ADD-reAM program on where additive fits.
Meet Our Speakers
Manuel Delgado, Business Director at ValCUN
10 years in polymer and metal additive manufacturing, across sales, commercial strategy and business development. At ValCUN he leads commercial expansion, strategic partnerships and revenue growth across regions.
Dr. Wajira Mirihanage, Senior Lecturer in Materials Science at the University of Manchester
His research covers solidification and additive manufacturing of metallic alloys, with a focus on understanding and controlling melt-pool dynamics, microstructure and defects.
Prof. Ian Gibson, Professor of Advanced Manufacturing, Sustainable Products and Energy Systems at the University of Twente
He chairs the AMSPES group in the Faculty of Engineering Technology and directs the Fraunhofer Innovation Platform for Advanced Manufacturing there. He has studied 3D printing for more than 30 years.
If a metal AM program in your lab has stalled on facilities, power supply or safety approval rather than on the science, this session is worth an hour. Register now.
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