Rapidia Inc, headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has opened a new US facility in Innovation Park, just outside Chicago, Illinois, to showcase its Additive Manufacturing technology and serve its US customers. The Rapidia system uses a water-based metal paste AM process to produce parts in a range of materials, including stainless steel, Inconel, and ceramics.

The two-stage office friendly system consists of a metal printer and a sintering furnace. The use of water, instead of a typical binding element, eliminates a solvent-based debinding step and is said to result in a fast, simple to use system that is environmentally friendly and completely solvent-free. 

In addition to the growing Additive Manufacturing markets, the company sees the prototyping of Powder Metallurgy components as an ideal application for its technology. Using the Rapidia system, those in the PM industry can produce prototype metal components in under twenty-four hours. 

Rapidia also announced the appointment of Tim Ruffner as its new Head of North American Sales. Ruffner has a background in Additive Manufacturing, having previously worked for Desktop Metal, Concept Laser, Rize, and Dynamism. 

www.rapidia.com