By Joy M. Lazcano, DOST-STII, S&T Media Service
The Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMCen) is among the service facilities that the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will feature in this year’s National Science and Technology Week celebration.
Although this year’s celebration, which is scheduled from Nov. 22 to 28, 2021, remains to be on virtual platforms, DOST still prepared a full week of informative and engaging activities that will give glimpses of the many laudable contributions of the science community towards a vigorous economic resurgence.
With the theme Agham at Teknolohiya: Tugon Sa Haḿon Ng Panahon, aside from the usual NSTW flavors in the fast celebrations, this year will again focus on the various technologies and services locally developed to support the country’s efforts in battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consequently, the manufacturing sector is among the hardly affected sectors by the pandemic.
Aside from the negative effects on the business sector, the local manufacturing industry also found itself grappling with the emerging pressure of the fast-changing technological advancements as many industries are now seen significantly shifting towards advanced technologies including autonomous machines, 3D printing, Internet of Things, and additive manufacturing to support the rise of sophisticated and more complex design needs for diverse consumers and industrial products.
With the growing usage of 3D printing technologies in the global manufacturing industry, the country has rolled out its catch-up technologies and facilities aimed at elevating the competitiveness of the local manufacturing industry.
AMCen is poised to put a new face to Philippine manufacturing as DOST’s top-of-the-line advanced manufacturing facility and state-of-the-art prototyping laboratory pushes the country’s technological readiness, business sophistication, and innovative capacity to a higher plane.
The center will also serve as an innovation hub for advanced manufacturing, which will offer industrial design and development and rapid prototyping.
In this year’s NSTW celebration, DOST-Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC) will conduct a technology demonstration on Nov. 23, 2021, titled “A Technology Demo on 3D Printing: Witness Revolutionized Prototyping” to introduce the AMCen facility as the 3D printing hub. The event will also showcase to the public its rapid prototyping capabilities together with its ancillary services that are being offered to industry stakeholders.
The technology demonstration will further discuss the various processes involved in the 3D printing technology such as design, input materials, 3D printing process, and the finished products.
Currently, these state-of-the-art technologies and services are now being tapped by various sectors in developing prototypes for several devices that is much faster.
Among its early partners were the Philippine Army’s Research and Development Center (RDC), which co-developed the Improvised Explosive Device (EID) Distractor prototype, a device that disarms an explosive device by enabling it to explode inside its contraptions without destroying its parts and circuitries.
AMCen also collaborated with STAMINA4SPACE or the Sustained Support for Local Space Technology & Applications Mastery, Innovation and Advancement to develop a microsatellite bus system containing the electronic and structural parts, metal enclosures, frames, and camera baffles that are used for cube satellites.
Catch AMCen and other locally developed technologies and interesting events that will be featured in the 2021 NSTW.
For more details, visit the NSTW website http://nstw.dost.gov.ph/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/nstwdost for more information. – bny
