Following the success of the 18th Annual International RAPDASA conference, held in Durban in November 2017, we are pleased to announce the 2018 conference jointly hosted by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Resolution Circle, on behalf of RAPDASA which will be held from 7 to 9 November 2018 at Resolution Circle Towers in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The organising committee, on behalf of RAPDASA, invites SMME’s, entrepreneurs, inventors, engineers, product designers, toolmakers, production staff, technical directors and managers from industry involved in design, development and manufacturing of products and components to participate or simply attend the conference.  In addition, participants from international product development communities, academia, national R&D and educational institutions are also invited to attend and participate in the conference.

Additive Manufacturing (AM), alternatively referred to as 3D printing, is a layer-based process used to manufacture physical objects. Using AM technology enables the manufacturing of geometrically complex parts, which require a high degree of customisation. AM technologies are currently used in a wide variety of manufacturing sectors, which include Aerospace, Medical, Bio-medical, Dentistry, R&D, Automotive and many more. Throughout the years, AM has demonstrated its value, is of a disruptive nature and can be considered a technology that can be used improve quality of life.

The theme for the conference will be:

Additive Manufacturing as a key driver of the 4^th industrial revolution

With respect to the conference theme, papers can be submitted under any of the following topics:

• Additive Manufacturing business development /  New Additive Manufacturing applications
• Impact of Additive Manufacturing on the intellectual property environment
• Design for Additive Manufacturing
• Reverse engineering
• Internet of things
• Simulation and modelling
• Process monitoring and control
• Material evaluation and selection
• Post processing and qualification
• Material / Process development
• Product development

The timelines for the submission of papers are as follows:

• Submission of Extended Abstracts – 31 May
• Notification of acceptance of abstracts – 5 June
• Submission of full paper – 30 June
• Feedback for paper review – 1 September
• Selection of papers for journal – 30 September

The conference will run from Wednesday, November the 7th to Friday, November the 9th 2018. Click here to submit a paper on the conference site.

A pre-conference seminar will be hosted on Tuesday, November the 6th 2018. Click here for more details.