3DP researchers

| Team leader
Professor in advanced manufacturing
Partanen's research revolves around advanced production technologies, like additive manufacturing, modern laser processing, and micromachining. He is an academic leader of a large multidisciplinary research institution, and has publications in highly ranked journals in many different fields including physics, manufacturing technology, health sciences, and chemistry. He is a technology industry leader in product development, advanced research, production, and product management.

| Team Leader
Assistant professor in sustainability in manufacturing
Professor Salmi is interested in a wide range of research topics including sustainability, additive manufacturing, 3D-printing, rapid manufacturing, rapid prototyping, topology optimization, and medical modeling. His research output includes publications concerning AM processes and total workflow, and quality and process monitoring, as well as development of optimized components, high-end industrial parts, spare parts, medical and applications, and new materials for AM.

| Lab. Manager
Specialist at
Björkstrand has an extensive background in 3D based engineering and engineering information systems as well as digital manufacturing. He has worked more than 20 years in co-operation with Finnish industry in multidisciplinary projects solving both industrial and medical challenges. Currently, he is focused on Industrialization of Additive Manufacturing, AM technology development, and AM of metals. His academic work is supported by his lasting interest in doing things in practice with DIY attitude.

Assistant Professor of Product Development
Prof. Akmal focuses on advancing our current understanding of the interplay between novel user-centered design and advanced digital manufacturing methods to establish and substantiate next-generation product development processes. In particular, he has been focusing on decision-making, generative design, simulation, material characterization, embedding, metrology, quality control, and artificial intelligence in the medical, military, motor vehicles, and industrial machines industries. He has gained over seven years of experience from national and international R&D projects at Aalto University, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Finnish Defence Research Agency, and Electro Optical Systems Finland Oy.

Doctoral Candidate
Jayaprakash focuses on applications of additive manufacturing technology that facilitate on-demand production, personalization, and sustainability. His primary projects include paste extrusion of bio-based polymeric composites for high-volume applications, and role of 3D food printing in future food systems. He is involved in projects concerning the future of AM education in European Union, industrial implementation of AM parts, and PolyJet 3D printing of optics. He is interested in product & service development, innovation management, and design thinking.

Researcher
Doctoral CandidateKirsi Kukko works as a researcher in 3D Printing group, which is part of Mechanical Engineering Department in Aalto University. She has a long career conducting research within additive manufacturing (AM) projects, ranging from medical aspects of 3D printing to industrial applications and art. Her current primary projects are focused on 3D printed optics (3D-GRINO-PPCI) and 3D printing of biomaterials for sustainable manufacturing (ValueBioMat). She is also the Secretary General of FIRPA, a Finnish association for additive manufacturing and 3D printing.

Postdoctoral researcher
In his recent projects, Puttonen has studied the mechanical properties of 3D printed plastics after prolonged UV exposure and the localization of corrosion of 316L stainless steel lattice structures with x-ray microcomputed tomography. He is interested in exploring the limits of the current manufacturing technologies and the 3D design software. While going smaller with features and part mesostructures that will open new applications, it must be ensured that the simulation and validation methods can keep up with the complexities of future components. Currently he is focusing on sustainablity in Additive Manufacturing.

Doctoral Student
Shunyang works on sustainability in engineering with a focus on reducing environmental impacts with advanced additive manufacturing methods. In particular, she utilizes data-driven methods to assist strategic decisions towards carbon footprint reduction and product life cycle management. She is interested in applying interdisciplinary expertise to improve sustainability during all life cycle stages. Meanwhile, she has been exploring topics such as AI in Engineering and sustainable design for AM.

Doctoral Candidate
Kumar's research focuses on 4D printing, a form of additive manufacturing where printed structures evolve over time in response to external stimuli. His work explores the integration of carbon and metal fibers into polymer composites using multi-material co-extrusion 3D printing to enable controlled shape transformation and functional adaptability. His research aims to advance smart materials for applications in aerospace, biomedical devices, and adaptive structures. He is interested in the development of responsive materials, functional composites, and innovative manufacturing techniques for next-generation engineering applications.

Doctoral Student
Xinyi is a new doctoral student in AI-DOC pilot program. She focuses on applying AI technologies in the field of additive manufacturing to develop meaningful industry-relevant solutions. Her research involves using computer vision methods to detect and locate various defects that occur during the metal 3D printing process. By utilizing AI-based image recognition and object detection models for rapid and timely automated monitoring, significant time and material waste in manual inspection can be saved. She is interested in creating a fully automated quality inspection system in the future.

Doctoral Student
Wudith works on multimaterial stereolithography and inkjet development focusing on new equipment concepts.
ADDLAB, Aalto University Digital Design Laboratory
ADDLAB, Aalto University Digital Design Laboratory, is a research organization initiated by the Aalto University's School of Engineering and School of Arts, Design and Architecture.
