| Abstract Scope |
Additive manufacturing has emerged as a transformative technology with the potential to reshape global supply chains, strengthen resilience, and support sustainable societal development. By enabling on-demand production, design freedom, material efficiency, and localized manufacturing, it offers new pathways to reduce waste, shorten logistics chains, and respond more rapidly to disruptions. This paradigm shift, in which designs can be transformed into products on demand, is enabling new business models while challenging traditional approaches to product development, manufacturing, and distribution. Beyond its technical promise, additive manufacturing supports broader goals in energy conservation, circular economy practices, and inclusive innovation across sectors such as aerospace, transportation, healthcare, and infrastructure. This lecture will examine how the additive manufacturing technology is moving from a disruptive manufacturing method to a strategic enabler of sustainable and resilient systems. It will also highlight key challenges, including cost, reproducibility, scalability, materials qualification and standards and responsible implementation. A range of materials, including polymers, ceramics, metals, hybrids, and multi-material systems, as well as structures fabricated using diverse additive manufacturing approaches, will be discussed. The discussion will further emphasize how interdisciplinary research and development, policy support, and industrial adoption can expedite the transition to manufacturing models that are not only efficient and competitive, but also socially beneficial and environmentally responsible. |