Organisers of the International Titanium Powder Processing, Consolidation and Metallurgy conference in Hamilton, New Zealand, December 2-4, 2013, have announced a number of key international guest speakers will be included in this year’s technical programme. 

The invited speakers come from over ten countries and are leaders in the titanium Powder Metallurgy field. “The calibre of speakers confirmed from both research and industry arenas is shaping the conference to be a not to miss event for powder specialists,” stated Dr Ma Qian, Science Director, RMIT Australia and Conference Committee member.

The list of international guest speakers and topics currently includes:

• Development of Large Sized Ti Alloy Compacts for Aerospace Application by Advanced Powder Processing – MIM
  
  Professor Hideshi Miura, Kyushu University and President of Japan Society of Powder and Powder Metallurgy (JSPM)
  
  
  
• Titanium Technologies in Powder for Manufacturing
  
  John Barnes, Leader, CSIRO Titanium Technologies, Australia

• Low-Cost Processing of Titanium and its Alloys
  
  Dr Ashraf Imam, Senior Researcher, Materials Science and Technology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, USA
  
  
  
• Metal Injection Moulding of beta-titanium alloys
  
  Dr Thomas Ebel, Head of Department Powder Technology, Geesthacht Centre for Materials and Coastal Research, Germany –
  
  
  
• Porous titanium structures: their fabrication and applications
  
  Professor Huiping Tang, Vice Director, State Key Laboratory of Porous Metal Materials, China
  
  
  
• Processing of dense and porous titanium parts by powder injection moulding of titanium hydride
  
  Professor Efrain Carreno-Mortelli, Head of Design & Materials Unit, HES-SO Institute of Systems Engineering, Switzerland
  
  
  
• Layer manufacturing of porous titanium for biomedical applications
  
  Dr Seung Eon Kim, Principal Researcher, Korea Institute of Materials Science (KMS)
  
  
  
• Dr Hilda Kundai Chikwanda, Research Group Leader, Powder Metallurgy Technologies, CSIR, Materials, Science & Manufacturing, South Africa (Topic TBC)
  

Many Australian and New Zealand guest speakers are also presenting, including speakers from the Callaghan Institute, Universities across New Zealand and Australia and leading titanium manufacturers.

For more information visit: www.tida.co.nz/titanium-conference-2013 

The Titanium Industry Development Association

New Zealand’s Titanium Industry Development Association (TiDA) was estbalished in 2010 to develop and promote the country’s titanium PM industry. The association is achieving this through research and development, education and training and the provision of a platform for companies to start to use the various titanium powder technologies available.

Dr Wayne Mapp, New Zealand’s Minister of Science and Innovation, stated at the opening of the facility, “TiDA is a key piece of infrastructure for the titanium industry. It will significantly boost New Zealand’s advantage in the industry, especially in titanium powder technology. The titanium applications industry could be worth $700 million each year to New Zealand by 2020. The opening of this centre is an excellent example of the innovative ecosystem at work. The industry, the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and the University of Waikato have pooled their resources to make this happen. It is exactly the sort of innovative project that will drive our economic growth.”

TiDA has today built a world-class advanced powder metallurgy research centre featuring state-of-the-art testing and prototyping equipment. The facility also provides specialist metallurgy training to provide skills and knowledge for the emerging titanium powder metallurgy and metals testing industries. New Zealand currently has a research programme covering a range of Ti powder areas. The research group includes two universities, two government research organisations and TiDA.

Commenting on the potential for titanium PIM technology in New Zealand, TiDA told PIM International, “We believe there is a good opportunity for titanium PIM in New Zealand as the technology reduces processing costs. This makes the use of titanium available to a broader range of applications. Companies designing products can look at the design based on what they want it to achieve and utilise the superior benefits of titanium alloys. The end result can often be a product which is cheaper than using a material that has a lower cost per kg, which is manufactured competitively and which displays the ideal properties of titanium alloys including high corrosion resistance, biocompatibility, excellent weight to strength ratio etc.”

TiDA has recently installed a Laser Sintering (3D printing) machine that is able to produce intricate parts in titanium, stainless steel and many other metals. This machine is one of only a few commercial machines of its kind operating in Australasia and it has manufactured items that are widely varied from body implants and complex machinery parts, to high spec sporting equipment and jewellery. Added to this, a newly acquired vacuum sintering furnace which can reach up to 1600°C is used in the Metal Injection Moulding process. This machine is the only one of its kind in New Zealand and available for research or commercial purposes.

www.tida.co.nz   

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