DNV GL and NTU Singapore sign new collaboration to support advances in 3D printing

DNV GL and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) are supporting academic advances in additive manufacturing – the process of 3D printing – for the maritime, oil and gas and other industries, through a four-year research collaboration agreement.

Two new doctoral student (PhD) positions are being created through the Industrial Postgraduate Programme, supported by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and DNV GL. A further full time Research Fellow post is also being created at NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing.

The research agreement will focus on developing industry standards, quality assurance processes, certification and supply chain tracking for the additive manufacturing sector. It was signed by Dr. Pierre C Sames, Senior Vice President and Director of DNV GL Group Technology and Research, and Professor Tim White, Associate Vice President (Infrastructure & Programmes), NTU Singapore.  

Market researchers SmarTech Publishing forecast that 3D printing will become a USD450 million market in the oil and gas industry by 2021, rising to USD1.4 billion by 2025. "This research collaboration demonstrates DNV GL's commitment to R&D in 3D printing, and securing the safe deployment of the technique in maritime and oil and gas, at a time when the technology is undergoing rapid advances and as growth in its use is expected to grow exponentially,” said Brice Le Gallo, Regional Manager South East Asia and Australia DNV GL – Oil & Gas and Director of the Global Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence in Singapore. 

“Our work with NTU, and with the support the new academic posts will receive from DNV GL’s Group Technology and Research, will help to strengthen our Global Additive Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence’s relations with academia. The collaboration agreement will also help us to further develop DNV GL’s approach to verification and certification of 3D printed parts as the technology develops.” 

The investment in academia comes after DNV GL engaged in a joint industry project to study the feasibility of 3D printing in the maritime industry earlier this year, alongside 10-member companies from the Singapore Ship Association.  

They will collaborate on the potential use of spare parts produced by 3D printers to help the capital-intensive maritime industry to cut costs and downtimes. Initiated by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the JIP aims to establish what commonly ordered parts are highly feasible for 3D printing with or without certification respectively. 

The signing ceremony at NTU was also witnessed by Brice Le Gallo, Regional Manager South East Asia and Australia DNV GL – Oil & Gas and Director of the Global Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence in Singapore, and Professor Chua Chee Kai, Executive Director of NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing. 

“Additive Manufacturing has the potential to disrupt companies active in design, production, certification and supply of goods. But it can also shape a new ecosystem around those goods. Our collaboration agreement with NTU provides opportunities for the additive manufacturing supply chain to instill greater trust in this fast-emerging technology through DNV GL’s developing services in this sector,” said Dr Pierre C Sames, Senior Vice President and Director of DNV GL Group Technology and Research.  

Professor Chua Chee Kai, Executive Director of the NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP) said: “This partnership between NTU and DNV GL comes at an inflection point for additive manufacturing in the maritime and offshore industry, where a deeper understanding of design, materials, and processes will facilitate the creation of more comprehensive guidelines for the qualification, and the certification of components produced by additive manufacturing. The combination of NTU’s expertise in additive manufacturing research and DNV GL’s experience in risk management and quality assurance services will pave the way for wider adoption of the technology in the maritime and offshore sector.”

About DNV GL

DNV GL is a global quality assurance and risk management company. Driven by our purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, we enable our customers to advance the safety and sustainability of their business. We provide classification, technical assurance, software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil & gas, power and renewables industries. We also provide certification, supply chain and data management services to customers across a wide range of industries. 

Operating in more than 100 countries, our experts are dedicated to helping customers make the world safer, smarter and greener.

DNV GL is the technical advisor to the oil and gas industry. We bring a broader view to complex business and technology risks in global and local markets. Providing a neutral ground for industry cooperation, we create and share knowledge with our customers, setting standards for technology development and implementation. From project initiation to decommissioning, our independent experts enable companies to make the right choices for a safer, smarter and greener future.

DNV GL has been investigating the opportunities and challenges posed by AM since 2014. In 2017, DNV GL opened the Global Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence in Singapore, an incubator and testbed for the research and development of additive manufacturing technology for the oil & gas, offshore and marine sector. In 2018, DNV GL also released the first approval of manufacturer (AoM) scheme for additive manufacturing producers wishing to supply products that comply with the DNV GL rules and standards, following the publication of the first guideline for the use of AM in the maritime and oil & gas industries in 2017.    

About NTU Singapore

A research-intensive public university, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) has 33,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the colleges of Engineering, Business, Science, Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences, and its Interdisciplinary Graduate School. Ranked 11th in the world, NTU has also been ranked the world’s top young university for the last three years running. The University’s main campus has been named one of the Top 15 Most Beautiful in the World. 

NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP) aspires to be an international Centre of excellence, to consolidate cutting edge technology and research in the area of 3D printing. With close to $150m funding secured from various government agencies and external partners, SC3DP provides a platform that spearheads Singapore’s efforts in 3D Printing. The Centre aims to build on Nanyang Technology University’s (NTU) existing strengths and competencies in 3D printing for manufacturing and precision engineering.