Equipment for additive manufacturing

Addressing industry challenges

From stimulating the transition towards alternative protein sources and addressing specific nutritional needs, to enabling effective medicine doses, release profiles, or polypill solutions. They all begin with equipment that can consistently produce novel, high-quality products. Our multidisciplinary Equipment for additive manufacturing team consists of experts in mechatronics, engineering, chemistry, industrial design, electronics, and software.

Together with other specialists within and outside TNO, we research, design, and build the solutions that address current societal challenges. We combine our equipment development expertise with specific food and pharma domain knowledge to translate our clients’ questions into the most effective solutions by:

• Conducting process research that optimises the production of personalised nutrition, alternative protein products, as well as medicine concepts and use cases.
• Delivering proofs-of-concept for new product creation, often by producing samples in our own labs using our clients’ materials.
• Developing equipment made to our clients’ exacting standards and specifications.

Facilities for acceleration

We operate within three labs, fully equipped to address food and pharma challenges with advanced processing technologies, including 3D printing. In addition to dedicated labs for both food and pharma research and development, we build and modify equipment in our workshop. The labs contain beyond-state-of-the-art 3D printing and other setups that were developed in-house, including facilities for:

• High-precision extrusion printing.
• High-speed, high-power extrusion printing.
• Multi-nozzle extrusion printing.
• Separate and combined selective laser sintering and binder jet printing.
• An innovative protein structuring setup.
• A personalised nutrition production setup.