C2I 2020 Aerospace & Defence winner: High DRAMA

Winner: DRAMA

Partners: National Centre for Additive Manufacturing/MTC with ATS Global, Autodesk, Ansys Granta, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, National Physical Laboratory, Renishaw and the University of Birmingham

Category sponsor: HVM Catapult

Given the implications of flying at 35,000 feet above the ground, it’s perhaps no surprise that the aerospace sector usually sticks to the tried and tested. But when game-changing technology like additive manufacturing comes along, rulebooks have to be rewritten and paradigms have to shift. DRAMA, the C2I winner in the aerospace category, has recognised the enormous potential of metal additive manufacturing and is helping to facilitate its uptake across the sector’s entire UK supply chain.

Starting in 2017, the project has been led by the National Centre for Additive Manufacturing at Coventry’s Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). The big OEMs in aerospace were already investing heavily in additive, but for the true value of the market opportunity to be realised, buy-in was needed right across the UK supply chain. DRAMA has seen a consortium of eight partners (National Centre for Additive Manufacturing, ATS Global, Autodesk, Ansys Granta, Midlands Aerospace Alliance, National Physical Laboratory, Renishaw, University of Birmingham) develop physical and digital assets to fuel metal additive adoption in the UK.