Composites Manufacturing Magazine reports on UMaine prototype of 3D printed housing

Composites Manufacturing Magazine reported that the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC) is working with researchers in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory to construct a prototype weatherproof and insect-proof single housing unit in collaboration with the Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing). ASCC’s “Factory of the Future” is made from wood residuals such as sawdust and construction debris, which forms a wood flour bound into pellets by biopolymers for use in the 3D printing process. The prototype should be ready for outdoor testing by the end of 2022. “We need to … not only develop the technology, but train the workforce that’s going to be able to operate this equipment. What we’re trying to do is develop fundamental solutions to the problems,” says Habib Dagher, founding executive director of ASCC.