Lufthansa Technik continues to leverage 3D printing technologies for its aircraft

The aerospace industry has been one of the earliest adopters of additive manufacturing technologies. Aerospace companies see an undeniable advantage in investing in 3D printing as it is extremely important for prototyping and tooling applications as well as end-part production. The Gartner Hype Cycle also predicted that 3D printing in aerospace and defence would reach its plateau of productivity in 5 to 10 years – not too long from now! Lufthansa, one of the largest airline companies in Europe has been integrating additive manufacturing for the production of some of its aircraft parts. More specifically, it’s Lufthansa Technik, the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) division of Lufthansa that established an additive manufacturing centre in Germany for the development of these parts. In order to learn more about the division’s activities we spoke to Dr. Aenne Köster, Head of Lufthansa Technik’s AM Center!

3DN: Could you briefly introduce yourself and your connection to additive manufacturing?

My name is Aenne Köster, I have a PhD in materials science and have been head of the Additive Manufacturing Center (AM Center) at Lufthansa Technik since early 2018.

3DN: Why did you decided to create the AM Center? What are its goals?

Dr. Aenne Köster

Lufthansa Technik has opened the cross-divisional AM Center with the aim of bundling and expanding the competence and experience that the MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) company has gained with this new technology in the past. This is intended to increase the maturity of the technology and promote the development of new products.