Mini versions of the Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMCen) are now in the provinces to bring high-tech fabrications (and more) outside of Metro Manila.
AMCen is an innovation hub for industrial design and development and rapid prototyping, a facility of the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC) at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) complex in Taguig City.
Rapid prototyping is the fast fabrication of a physical part, model or assembly using three-dimensional or 3D computer-aided design. It is usually completed using additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing.
It is called additive manufacturing because materials such as plastics, liquids or powder grains are added, deposited and fused together layer by layer in a process that is computerized.
3D printing technology at AMCen cuts the production time, especially in the prototyping stage. This means more savings as complex designs are developed in a shorter, more efficient way through 3D printing.
AMCen’s top-of-the-line manufacturing facility and state-of-the-art prototyping laboratory advance manufacturing competitiveness to a higher level by increasing technological readiness and business capacity, said Alvin Buison, a senior science specialist at AMCen. “It’s a tool to help in conventional manufacturing.”
MIRDC, a specialized agency of DOST, has extended AMCen services to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in rural areas.
Opened in mid-2021 at the DOST complex in Taguig City, the AMCen facility is expected to push the development of sophisticated products and technologies in the fields of aerospace, defense, health and medical services, biotechnology, automotive, and electronics and semi-conductors.
The Philippine Army’s Research and Development Center (RDC), for example, has tapped AMCen for the prototype development of the Improvised Explosive Device Distractor project. The distractor is a device that disarms an explosive device by exploding its internal parts.
Both the RDC and AMCen developed the materials designed to protect soldiers and bomb squads from the explosion.
The Department of Trade and Industry’s Fabrication Laboratories (Fablab) already use AMCen expertise. The 30 Fablabs located in selected universities nationwide provide the knowhow on 3D printing, design and testing in the regions.
AMCen has collaborated with the Philippine Space Agency’s STAMINA4SPACE program to design and develop prototype parts for miniature satellites.
AMCen developed the housing of the microsatellite’s electronic and structural parts, including metal enclosures, frames and camera baffles.
The MIRDC has opened Metals and Engineering Innovation Centers (MEIC) hosted and operated by state universities and colleges to design and fabricate machinery and equipment that support the requirements of small enterprises in the provinces.
MEIC services are now available in Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Cordilleras and Northen Mindanao. It expanded this year in 10 more schools in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Visayas, Zamboanga, Soccsksargen and Caraga regions.
The regions hold so much potential when it comes to innovation, the main reason why academe and the DOST is placing major investments in AMCens, said Tirso Ronquillo, president of the Batangas State University where an MEIC opened this year.
“As part of the MEIC system, state universities are now capable of posturing a highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce, ready to take on the challenges and opportunities of the future,” Ronquillo said.
“The technological disruptions and trends we see emerging in the global metals industry are guiding our mission,” he added.
MEIC is a small facility designed to replicate a scaled-down metalworking laboratory in regional settings, explained Mervin Gorospe of MIRDC. It strengthens regional capabilities through equipment acquisition, human resource development, industry immersion, benchmarking activities and product innovation, he said.
“Communities in the region may now look forward to having their own mini materials laboratories,” Gorospe said.
The timing is about right because there is a going demand for technologies in industries such as food processing, said Ulysses Ante Sr., a member of the development of food processing equipment at MIRDC.
MIRDC has developed food processing technologies, such as water retort, freeze dryer, spray dryer and vacuum fryer. These equipment makes food edible and safe, preserves food by increasing shelf life, retains nutritional quality, offers convenience, and lowers prices especially when food is mass produced, said Ante.
