Born from NC State University’s strong tradition in Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) and with the support of the Edward P. Fitts Department, The Center for Additive Manufacturing and Logistics (CAMAL) has built an impressive reputation. With a legacy that includes the renowned Furniture Manufacturing and Management Center and the pioneering Rapid Prototyping Lab, alongside a globally respected faculty, CAMAL is at the forefront of groundbreaking research in additive manufacturing (AM) and logistics.
Whether providing fabrication and prototyping services for internal NC State projects or external clients, or utilizing its state-of-the-art metal 3D printing capabilities—such as the first Electron Beam Melting (EBM) machine of its kind—the Center continues to innovate, with a strong commitment to sustainability through its alloy recycling program.
The journey to innovation
“I joined the faculty at NC State in 2002, and together with a former colleague, we started building an additive manufacturing lab,” says Professor Ola Harrysson, Ph.D., who has served as the Center’s Director since 2017. “That lab kept growing, and by 2013/2014, we began formalizing the Center itself, with 2017 marking its official launch.”
Now a college-wide research center, CAMAL brings together faculty and students from most departments within the College of Engineering, as well as collaborators from fields like physics, biology, mathematics, statistics, and veterinary sciences. “We do more than just additive manufacturing and logistics at the Center,” says Harrysson. “It’s really an advanced manufacturing hub.”
This includes not only 3D printing in both polymers and metals but also a full machine shop, AI digitization, and material characterization and testing facilities. CAMAL was a pioneer in metal AM, getting involved in this technology in 2003, well ahead of most academic institutions, which has established the group as a leader in this field.
“My focus is primarily on metal AM technologies and the development of new materials and alloys,” says Timothy Horn, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Harrysson’s long-time collaborator.
“Our work is predominantly looking at answering the question: how do we qualify parts when manufacturing small, one-off components, which is what 3D printing is adept at? How can we predict how these parts will perform?”
Research focus: extreme environments
Many of CAMAL’s current projects involve refractory metals—those designed for extreme environments, which has led to a project under the Office of Naval Research that involves fusion energy, hydrogen energy, nuclear fission applications, and hypersonics. These fields rely on the unique advantages of additive manufacturing.
“That means we’re dealing with small batch sizes, highly complex designs, specialty materials, and quantifying the risks associated with these parts,” says Horn. “How long will they last? How will they perform? What are their properties, and can we expect them to change over time?”
Team member Christopher Rock, Ph.D., the self-described “Industry Guy,” brings a wealth of expertise in material science, specifically in metal 3D printing. “I’m the physical metallurgist and the powder metallurgist here at the Center,” he explains. “My role focuses on the development of new materials for metal AM. We’re also involved in an exciting National Science Foundation project exploring new ways to design materials using hyperuniformity concepts.
“That’s been something new and exciting for us here in the Center involving collaboration with a number of mathematicians and physicists. We’ve collaborated on a math to print pipeline where we fabricate disordered metamaterial geometries and test them to see if the math on the material properties lines up.”
Fred Livingston, Ph.D., Associate Teaching Professor with a background in electrical and computer engineering, focuses on the intelligence aspect of AM.
“We specialize in very low-volume, customized prints,” says Livingston. “Most of our work involves automated systems using robotic perception and manipulation algorithms in post processes, particularly in reducing some of the manual labor and solving complex challenges using machine learning, AI, computer vision, digital twins, and all-integrated, cyber-physical systems.”
A broad range of research
Harrysson explains that the Center’s work spans both basic research questions and applied science, often involving direct collaborations with industry to address specific issues.
“We have a well-rounded funding portfolio, supported by federal agencies like the NSF, DOD, and DOE, as well as private companies,” Harrysson says. “Some companies come to us for advice on whether to adopt AM in their production processes.”
The Center’s collaborations extend to the military, including the Army and Navy, to develop new alloys for specific applications and even manufacture spare parts for aging legacy equipment. CAMAL also thrives on its interdisciplinary collaborations, with 27 faculty members from various departments currently involved in metal AM. “These are people coming from all over with different interests.”
The Center has between 30 and 40 active federal projects in the lab at present, Horn shares.
One standout feature of CAMAL is its atomizer, which is used to make metal powders for AM processes, Harrysson tells us. “This atomizer gives us the unique ability to develop alloys, process them, and fabricate solid parts, all while testing and characterizing the materials.” Unique within the United States, the atomizer provides capabilities not found at many other universities.
Diversity and sustainability at the forefront
Another defining aspect of CAMAL is its commitment to diversity and sustainability. The team works with faculty from a variety of fields, including industrial and systems engineering, robotics, biomedical engineering, civil engineering, and nuclear engineering, to mention a few.
“We collaborate with people across disciplines—mechanical engineering, material science, electrical engineering, physics, and math departments,” Rock says. “We have a huge breadth of people we interact with in and out of the Center on research projects, and the breadth of work we’re able to do here allows us to tackle a broad range of projects and challenges.”
Sustainability is another core value. As 3D printing has grown in popularity, so too has the need for recycling. CAMAL is exploring how to recycle––or upcycle alloys and polymers, as well as how to make new alloys more recyclable. “Recycling was not a big concern when 3D printing was in its infancy,” Harrysson says. “But as the technology grows, we must consider how to recycle the materials we use, particularly with metal alloys.”
Embracing the future
AI has also become an integral part of CAMAL’s operations, from solving material challenges to automating complex processes. “We’re investigating how to integrate machine learning and AI into manufacturing,” says Livingston. “It’s a new area for us, but it’s one of the things that helps set the school and the Center apart from competitors.”
Horn adds that AI is especially helpful when developing new alloys and materials. “AI can identify patterns and processing routes that we wouldn’t be able to iteratively access—certainly not efficiently.” When developing a new alloy, “you have to put the ingredients in the right order, with the right temperatures, the right time at each step, the right agitation, the right mixing,” he says. “That’s incredibly complicated; it’s an infinite space at multiple levels and across multiple orders of magnitude.”
Using AI tools can help researchers accelerate that process. “AI can be very valuable to us in that search,” says Horn, “with the goal of trying to achieve materials characteristics that meet specific criteria.”
As mentioned, one of the keys to CAMAL’s success is its ability to bring in expertise from across the NC State campus as needed. “If a company comes to us with a specific problem they want us to work on, and we don’t have the particular expertise internally, we’ll find the right people on campus to help,” says Harrysson. “That’s how we’ve grown over the years—by collaborating and bringing in the right talent for each project.”
As a vertically integrated outfit, CAMAL can handle everything from material design and fabrication to modeling and testing, ensuring a comprehensive approach to advanced manufacturing. “We can go cradle-to-grave within the Center itself, not only with infrastructure but also with capability and talent,” says Horn.
“We can create our own materials, design and fabricate products, model them, and analyze the process—all within the Center. This ability makes us unique in this field.”
