Photo: From left, Mr Paul Harvey (Uddeholm, UK); Prof. Ing. Bertram Mallia (DMME); Mr Jamie Gowans (Uddeholm, UK); Prof. Ing. Joseph Buhagiar (Head of Department, DMME).
The Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering (DMME) within the Faculty of Engineering was proud to host representatives from Uddeholm, a world leading manufacturer of tool steel materials. An academia-meets-industry themed seminar was held at the newly established advanced materials research laboratories of the department on Friday 28 April 2023.
This event brought together Uddeholm (UK) technical and sales representatives, DMME academic and technical staff and numerous representatives from notable companies in the local manufacturing industry. Importantly, the latter are end users of tool steels whose fabrication cycles and product quality output highly depend on these materials. The seminar was very well attended and served to further strengthen the existent strong links between the University of Malta and industry.
During the seminar, Uddeholm UK representatives described materials selection guidelines specifically for tooling and best practices in plastic injection moulding, new materials intended for additive manufacturing and common tool failures. Prof. Joseph Buhagiar, Head of DMME, outlined the close collaboration of the department with local industry materialising in its many forms; from joint research projects, to the provision of heat treatment for tool steel materials, and access to materials testing, analysis, and expertise in materials and product issues.
During the seminar Mr Gowans also announced the newly formed stocking partnership with ABERTAX Technologies Ltd. which will go a long way into increasing access to Uddeholm materials in Malta. The seminar participants took this opportunity to network and discuss together progress in the field, challenges and solutions.
