Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, is a disruptive technology with a promising potential in the health sector.
The technology has not yet been fully integrated in hospitals and the health care sector. There are different reasons for this. Some of the barriers are the lack of knowledge and skills on the use of the technology, as well as a complex value chain requiring the cooperation of actors from different backgrounds. The ALADDIN project aims to tackle the gap in knowledge and help create a better cooperation among stakeholders, contributing to the integration of additive manufacturing in the health sector.
ALADDIN is an ERASMUS + project that brings together six European organisations developing an innovative training programme on additive manufacturing in hospitals, targeting not only health professional working in hospitals, such as doctors, surgeons, and biotechnologists, but also engineering students with a future in the health sector.
By training these two key groups the project will ensure a better coordination and understanding between both sectors, an increase in the quality of the healthcare systems and competitivity of the additive manufacturing industry. Achieving the full incorporation of the technology in the health sector. ALADDIN will develop until September 2022 a training methodology, a teaching guide, training contents customised for each target group and an e-Learning platform.
In October 2021, the Exploitation and Sustainability Plan of the ALADDIN project was achieved. This plan reflects the project partners’ vision of the project results, potential and impact. It sets the targets and procedures for ensuring that the project’s results will be exploited after the project’s end. The plan also specifies the guidelines for the exploitation and transfer of the project’s results outside the original project consortium and duration.
The beginning of 2022 saw the development of the training methodologies. The teaching guide and the training contents are almost achieved. The ‘Train the trainers’ activities took then place in January and February 2022. The trainers are ready to pilot test the training contents.
Once completed with the results of the pilots, the training guide and the e-learning platform will be released and be made available to trainers.
Three multiplier events will take place in 2022 in the countries of the project (Spain, Belgium and Ireland) to present the training courses and guarantee that the project reaches the target groups.
