Valimet highlights Digital Twin work at HAMR opening
The National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), located in Wichita, Kansas, USA, officially opened its new Hub for Advanced Manufacturing Research (HAMR) at Wichita State University following a two-day grand opening event that brought together industry leaders, federal partners, Wichita State and NIAR employees, and the greater community.
The new 15,800 m2 facility will be used for industry and government research, development, training and collaboration.
Across the opening celebrations, more than 1,000 visitors toured the new facility, seeing first-hand how student technicians engage in the paid applied learning positions available through NIAR. The open house offered a rare look at the HAMR facility, which will be closed to the general public in the future because of ITAR-restricted and proprietary industry and defence work.
Attending the opening was aluminium powder producer Valimet, headquartered in Stockton, California. “Overall, it was an impressive display of organisational focus and ambition,” the company stated.
“Advanced Manufacturing is a key element of HAMR. We saw a diversified portfolio of machines and are especially intrigued by the possibility for NIAR to incorporate AM in the wider picture of the competences of this campus,” Valimet added.
Attendees participated in keynote remarks, guided tours and hands on demonstrations across six research zones: The Digital Twin; Sustainment & Digital Transformation; Advanced Manufacturing & Materials Research; Process Automation; The Digital Factory; and Customer Engagement: Co Create the Future.
“One work stream stood out: since 2020, NIAR has been working on the Digital Twins program for the B-1B Bomber, as well as other aircraft, helicopters and complex systems,” stated Valimet. “Digital Twin is a hyped topic, we agree, but NIAR’s B-1 project is going well beyond scanning & reverse engineering. The Digital Twin became much more powerful than a data-bank of CAD drawings.”
To enable this, a Digital Twin must be combined with Digital Threads. “That is the missing part of several Digital Twins sales pitches we’ve heard at battery and manufacturing shows over the past few years,” continued Valimet. “The team led by Jeswin Joseph C is now to be considered a reference for the US in mastering Digital Threads.”
The opening included a number of social events. “An absolute treat for our VP of Sales and Marketing, Luigi Alzati, to have been invited to the NIAR family dinner,” added Valimet.
NIAR has a $400 million annual budget, a staff of 2,000, and some 185,000 m2 of laboratory and office space in six locations across the city of Wichita and an office in downtown Huntsville, Alabama.
