Science Foundation Ireland announced on 2nd May 2017 that it will fund a new research centre for the development of Innovative Advanced Manufacturing within Ireland. This will be funded to the level of €18.5M million over the next six years to deliver world-class research and development within this area in Ireland. The new SFI Research Centre will be led by Prof Denis Dowling, UCD and APT director Prof Dermot Brabazon of DCU. The centre will support cutting-edge basic and applied research with strong industry engagement, economic and societal impact. The decision follows a comprehensive international peer review process involving leading industry and academic experts over the last 12 months.

The Déantús Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre will draw together research expertise from academia and industry to deliver innovation in additive manufacturing techniques and processes. Within the Déantús research programme, priority has been given to Additive Manufacturing (AM), an area with great potential for disruptive innovation; however, the research and its results are applicable across the broader manufacturing domain. Déantús Platform research combines novel metrology, mathematical modelling, data analytics, and control theory to achieve significantly enhanced AM processing efficiency for both metals and polymers.

Déantús will deliver transformative innovation in manufacturing techniques and processes. The Centre brings together a multidisciplinary team of engineers, materials researchers, manufacturing experts and data scientists to address three critical challenges in advanced manufacturing:(a) how to use the data generated by in-process sensors, to make better, cheaper and more reliable 3D-printed products; (b) understanding how changes in the choice of material and in the manufacturing process influence the characteristics of the end product; and (c) how to help support manufacturing staff to interpret complex data and manage complex systems. The DCU focus areas with the centre cover the centre main research platform areas. These particular areas of focus include development of process metrology, modelling, materials, as well as conventional and data analytics enhanced control.