Sean Casten (D-IL 6th District), the US representative for a broad swathe of Chicago’s western suburbs, was recently named Vice Ranking Member of the House of Representatives’ Minority Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The assignment has sparked the congressman’s increased interest in additive manufacturing (AM), including the techniques of Sciaky, Inc., an Illinois-based specialist in metal AM, whose headquarters Casten recently toured.
Sciaky’s patented Electron Beam AM (EBAM) method is, according to the company, “the only large-scale metal 3D printing solution” with applications certified for use across the entire military spectrum: land, sea, air, and space. Electron beam 3D printing is distinct from laser-based methods in that it relies on a stream of electrons, instead of photons, to heat the (usually metal) feedstock. In addition to extreme…
