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LLNL partners with FATHOM to develop new additive manufacturing technology

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has entered into a technology development partnership with FATHOM, a company specializing in 3D printing and additive manufacturing.

The collaboration combines FATHOM's advanced industry knowledge with LLNL's unique research and development capabilities and broad domain expertise in applied science and engineering to commercialize new additive manufacturing technologies.

"Additive manufacturing is rapidly changing the design and production of all kinds of products. At Lawrence Livermore, we are not only applying additive manufacturing to our core mission of national security, but seeking ways to accelerate the process and create new materials," said Diane Chinn, division leader of Materials Engineering at LLNL. "We look forward to collaborating with FATHOM to explore new advances in this area."

Leveraging these combined strengths, FATHOM and LLNL will collaborate on new material development, processing, testing and characterization, as well as application of specific advancements such as hardware and software. FATHOM has applied its manufacturing capabilities to technologies in energy, medical, electronics, consumer goods and the environment, to name a few.

"FATHOM is very excited about this advanced technology partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Lab," said Rich Stump, principal at FATHOM. "Bringing together FATHOM's professional commercial industry expertise and LLNL's unique R&D capabilities, we will now have the ability to co-develop and introduce new technologies to help the 3D printing and additive manufacturing industry."

Betsy Cantwell, LLNL's head of Business Development, said such partnerships have an economic benefit. "By working with industry to bring national lab capabilities to bear on advancing manufacturing, we enable the innovation that leads to new economic opportunities and makes U.S. manufacturing more competitive in the global marketplace," Cantwell said.

LLNL is a founding member of the California Network for Manufacturing Innovation (CNMI), a non-profit established for the purpose of promoting manufacturing competitiveness in California through a collaboration of industry, national laboratories, technical assistance, government agencies, academia, workforce and economic development organizations.