Optimizing the Education System on Additive Manufacturing

Abstract Book of the 5th International Education Conference

Year: 2026

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Optimizing the Education System on Additive Manufacturing

Suzana Lampreia, Teresa Morgado, João Alves

ABSTRACT:

The adoption of additive manufacturing technologies in industry and on operation systems and organizations, such as the Defense area, has introduced new needs in school education systems. To correspond to that, this technology has been introduced to students with the aim of building knowledge so it can be fed by persons and practitioners who can apply and develop the art of 3 Dimension printers. The curricula and training programs may be aligned with the specific operational, diagnostic, and lifecycle challenges associated with additive manufacturing systems, which integrate complex interactions between materials, software, hardware, and process control. This paper made a state of the art on the area of additive manufacturing education, and then, integrated with a workshop, proposes an optimized education system for maintenance using additive manufacturing. This study aims to bridge the gap between technological evolution and the organization’s preparedness. The proposed educational system is based on a competency-driven, modular education that will combine theoretical foundation and training on the job with experimentation. A case study is presented to demonstrate the application of the proposed education system in an engineering training context, demonstrating improvements in knowledge retention, diagnostic accuracy, and handling skills of operating the printers and systems related to it. The present model will contribute to developing a structured and industry relevant education model for additive manufacturing to face the challenge of nowadays systems complexity due to a constant technological evolution.

Keywords: Additive Manufacturing; Education; Sustainability