“This will allow for precise construction in a manufacturing environment using sustainable materials that can be shipped to the construction site. “We will manufacture 3D-printed wall panels that can be used in housing and building construction,” Via says. “The project offers a unique opportunity to both undergraduate and graduate students to be involved in cutting-edge technologies and sustainable development.” The proposed interdisciplinary project, “ Developing a Circular Bio-Based Framework For Architecture, Engineering and Construction Through Additive Manufacturing,” targets what is called the Advanced Manufacturing Industry of the Future. “However, advanced manufacturing can help to utilize more biomaterial waste from forest resources that can then be 3D printed into housing or building components.”
is trending toward mass timber buildings as a first-generation material to reduce our carbon footprint,” says Brian Via, the Regions Bank Professor in Auburn’s School of Forestry of Wildlife Sciences and director of the school’s Forest Products Development Center. The project will also investigate the environmental impact of conventional concrete and steel used in the construction of traditional buildings, in comparison with tall timber buildings, which emit only one-third to one-half of the greenhouse gases traditional materials emit. This process will include conversion of biomass into chemicals and nanomaterials to help improve the sustainability of the resin. The Auburn-led portion will focus on bio-resin development as a feedstock for 3D printing, which will be done at Idaho. Photo Credit: Auburn UniversityĪn interdisciplinary project connecting several Auburn University (Ala., U.S.) faculty and fellow scientists seeks to make strides in future advanced manufacturing, including developing affordable homes constructed via 3D printing. The study, which spans the disciplines of engineering, chemistry, forest resources and architecture, also draws strongly upon the expertise of scientists at its partner institution, the University of Idaho (Moscow), with Michael Maughan, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, at the helm. Pictured, left to right, are Auburn’s lead scientists, Maria Auad of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, Sushil Adhikari of the College of Agriculture and Brian Via and Maria Soledad Peresin of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. Auburn University faculty are part of an interdisciplinary research team that received a multimillion-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation’s Research Infrastructure Improvement Program to develop composite materials from waste resources for additive manufacturing to create more affordable and environmentally friendly housing or building components.