Fulbright Scholar studies sustainability of 3D printing at CDME
Ersilia Cozzolino, a mechanical engineering doctoral student at the University of Naples Federico II in Italy, was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Visiting Student Researcher grant by the U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission to conduct additive manufacturing research at The Ohio State University’s Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME).
While at CDME, Cozzolino will study the energy consumption and sustainability of additive manufacturing to support her doctoral thesis. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, uses computer-aided-design software to direct hardware to deposit layers of material in precise shapes. It is the opposite of traditional manufacturing, which subtracts material through various methods.
“I’m very happy to be at CDME because of the number of talented researchers and advanced additive manufacturing machines,” Cozzolino said. “I am looking forward to this opportunity to improve my professional career, but also grow personally during my first experience in the United States.”
Cozzolino came to the United States from her hometown of Naples, Italy, at the end of September. She will be at CDME for six months to conduct her research. Her Fulbright grant is one of only five awarded to Italian PhD students to conduct research in the United States, she said.
Additive manufacturing is relatively new and growing in popularity, so its sustainability is not yet fully understood. Parts are created in large printers that require a lot of energy. Cozzolino is studying the metal printers in CDME’s Additive Manufacturing Lab to understand their energy consumption and how it can be minimized without sacrificing the industrial quality requirements of additive parts.
“At CDME, our goal is to grow the additive manufacturing ecosystem through thought leadership,” said Ed Herderick, director of additive manufacturing. “Ersilia’s research will be extremely beneficial to our community of practice so the industry can use resources thoughtfully and continue to innovate new technology solutions.”
CDME is a leader in the academic efforts to accelerate growth, adoption and discovery of additive manufacturing technologies. The center houses more industrial scale metal printers than any other academic institute with 11 total, as well as state-of-the-art post processing and depowdering equipment, biomaterials printing, ceramics and beyond.
