The 3DPTec Integrated Center was established in April 2026 as part of a university-wide initiative at The University of Osaka, with the aim of further elevating the Graduate School of Engineering’s internationally outstanding and diverse 3DP (three-dimensional printing) technologies into a universally recognized brand — one where “3DP means The University of Osaka” and “The University of Osaka means 3DP.” The Center was reorganized from the Anisotropic Design & Additive Manufacturing Research Center, which was originally established in December 2014 as the first AM center at a national university in Japan.
The Center possesses a unique digital twin platform that bidirectionally integrates physical-space realization through state-of-the-art 3DP with multi-physics and multi-scale simulations in cyberspace. By further incorporating cutting-edge AI technologies, the Center is driving the DX (digital transformation) and AX (AI transformation) of 3DP.
Building on this scientific and technological foundation, the Center advances research and development across six priority areas of high societal demand: medical devices, aerospace components, functional catalysts, future foods and artificial organs, large-scale offshore wind turbines, and art. The Center pursues seamless, end-to-end R&D from fundamental research to societal implementation following the example of the world’s first bone-matrix-orientation-inducing spinal spacer previously developed, as well as interdisciplinary research that bridges the sciences and humanities.
In collaboration with a wide range of researchers across the Graduate School of Engineering and partner institutions — including the Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University Hospital, the Research Center for Ultra-High Voltage Electron Microscopy, the International Center for Biotechnology, and the Nakanoshima Arts Center — the Center strives to realize a “ultra-custom society” in which people can instantly obtain whatever they desire. “Ultra-custom” does not merely refer to product customization; it envisions a dream society in which desired objects can be obtained immediately, transcending spatial barriers at “zero distance” — a cutting-edge endeavor made possible only at The University of Osaka, where 3DP technologies converge.
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