At the Bristol and Bath Science Park, a hub for innovation and high tech research in the South West, is a company called HiETA Technologies that has been producing weird and wonderful engineering components by 3D printing them from aluminium and steel. At the large scale HiETA operates at, this 3D printing is known as additive manufacturing and it allows the startup to create lightweight, honeycomb structures, often in exotic shapes allowing for added aerodynamic or strength benefits, that would have been impossible to create so easily using any other technique.
The versatility and speed of what can be created using this process, not to mention its eco-friendly credentials from the fact that there is very little waste from this form of manufacture, has meant it has attracted a lot of interest, and HiETA has already blossomed from a two-man team to 24 strong in the past three years!
Get help preparing for the third industrial revolution!
With some commentators referring to these additive manufacturing engineering techniques as heralding the start of the third industrial revolution, to cope with the high predicted demand, HiETA has just opened its own advanced technology centre which will provide companies with a facility that can help them at every step of the additive manufacturing process.
Whatever your level of market readiness, HiETA’s new technology centre offers people additive manufacturing expertise from initial concept, design and materials, through to testing and production. The centre already has two state-of-the-art industrial 3D printers from Renishaw, which fuse together layers of metal powder to create the 3D-printed components, and it has plans to install two more.
“The West of England is paving the way in science, engineering and technology”
TechSPARK went along to the official opening of the centre last week, where local MP Chris Skidmore MP cut the ribbon saying “As the local MP I am honoured to open HiETA’s new Technology Centre. The West of England is paving the way in science, engineering and technology and today’s opening at Bristol & Bath Science Park highlights a great example of this. High value manufacturing is a real growth sector and I will do everything I can to bolster this activity and ensure that we have the correct infrastructure to support it”.
HiETA – 3D printing on an industrial scale: Renishaw’s AM 250 machine in action
(Right) Here a laser is melting metal powder to slowly build a metal part to a specified design.
Mike Adams, CEO of HiETA, added, “We have achieved what a lot of people told us we couldn’t do. We are very proud of the progress that HiETA has made over the last 3 years and hugely grateful to the partners and clients who have shared the journey with us.
“HiETA began its life as a conversation in a coffee shop. If you add to that initiative an entrepreneurial spirit, a technically gifted team and an inspiring technology you have every chance of creating real change in the way that the UK looks at manufacturing”.
New members of the HiETA team: Sporting HiETA-made 3D-printed metal ID badges!
Iain Gray chairman of the steering committee at Bristol & Bath Science Park, said: “HiETA is an exemplar tenant that illustrates exactly what we are trying to achieve here at BBSP, from startup, to successful company and market leader. The growth and innovation within the walls of HiETA’s new centre come hand in hand with our future ambitions for the Science Park. It is an exciting time for the industry and we are delighted to see HiETA enter a new chapter.”
You can see more at the Hieta website, or by following them on Twitter: @HiETATech. If you have enquiries you can contact them direct on email: enquiries@hieta.biz
