The following is an excerpt from the article “Saudi’s Immensa Labs to accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing in the Middle East.”
Saudi Arabia and the Middle East region have seen investments in additive manufacturing technology, with 65% of industries currently investing in 3D printing. The companies leading this investment in Saudi Arabia include Mubadala, PIF, SoftBank, and others. Even more recently, with new developments such as Metalab (produced by Swift) and a series of local accelerators such as IDEA Lab, it has become apparent that Saudi wants to lead on research and development. Recently, SoftBank, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, announced that it would sponsor Saudi Arabia’s Foresight Institute, which aims to provide training in additive manufacturing.
The announcement is crucial when Saudi Arabia plans to invest in additive industries, including automotive and aviation. The announcement also comes alongside SoftBank and Global Startup Village, which will discuss the future of additive manufacturing for the Middle East at EICMA this week.
With a strong research and development base, Saudi aims to grow its economy through growth in its tech industry. With Saudi’s investment in research and development, the industries in Saudi may grow to include additive technologies.
Efficient and cost-effective additive manufacturing systems that use less raw material are needed to be developed. Saudi Arabia is aiming to provide these systems.
These developments raise crucial questions for the region: How will local educational institutions adapt to additive manufacturing? What industry leaders can we work with locally? What steps should we take now to create a strong industry? How do we move forward on education when overseas companies and universities are driving the innovations? These are all important questions that need answers. The answer is in the development of the local ecosystem.
Immensa aims to partner with research and development centers, education institutions, and industry leaders in Saudi Arabia to develop a strong additive manufacturing ecosystem. Immensa Labs will focus on accelerating the adoption of additive manufacturing technologies, training people on how to use these technologies, and accelerating additive R&D in Saudi Arabia with local universities and businesses. In parallel, Immensa Labs will also work with other industries to develop 3D printing capabilities for new industries such as automotive, aerospace, and healthcare. In automotive specifically, Saudi has already invested nearly $5 billion into OEM manufacturing plants.