Xaar appoints 3D printing expert Prof Neil Hopkinson

Printing group Xaar has strengthened its expertise in the area of 3D printing with the appointment of a leading UK expert in the field.

Neil Hopkinson, professor of manufacturing engineering at Sheffield University, has been appointed to the new role at the company of director of 3D printing.

Hopkinson in 2014 led a project that developed a technology called high speed sintering (HSS), which created printers that could fabricate objects at production-level speeds, in mass quantities.

Xaar, which tumbled out of the FTSE 250 a year ago as demand for ceramic tile printing slumped on the back of China's slowing construction market, said Hopkinson will be charged with building a world-class team to continue the development of HSS technology as well as other additive manufacturing processes.

"The team's focus will be to accelerate the success of Xaar's OEM partners in the exciting area of additive manufacturing," the company said.

HSS not only uses normal sintering processes of using a laser to melt a layer of polymer-based powder and then layering another on top, but also uses inkjet printheads and infrared heaters to effect the manufacturing process at much higher speeds than other additive manufacturing processes.

Hopkinson has said that HSS could be 10 to 100 times quicker than laser sintering and while it currently is best suited to thermoplastics, in the long term it could apply to metals and ceramics.

As head of the three-year Factum Project, which concludes in 2016 and which Xaar has been involved, Hopkinson helped develop supply chain and full scale production capabilities for novel additive manufacturing technologies for application in major industrial sectors within the UK economy with three key partners; Unilever, BAE Systems and Cobham.

"Industrial 3D printing is entering an important phase of maturation and I am excited to be joining Xaar at this critical time", said Hopkinson.

"It is clear that inkjet printing will be an important enabling technology as the 3D printing sector scales up to be an integral part of mainstream manufacturing. As a leading supplier to printing equipment manufacturers all over the world, Xaar is in a strong position to accelerate the adoption of HSS technology within a number of key applications".