By Umamah Bakharia 

South Africa will no longer have to rely on costly imported medical devices for people living with disabilities.

This comes after R97 million was donated to additive manufacturing – better known as 3D printing.

The Department of Science and Innovation along with the Central University of Technology (CUT) launched the Medical Device Additive Manufacturing Demonstrator Project (MedAdd) in Bloemfontein.

The project is one of the Department of Science’s high-level infrastructure innovations that aims at establishing a state of the art technologies that will develop medicine in South Africa.

Radio Islam spoke to CUT’s Johan Els on the project that is currently underway.

“We [CUT] have been a priding ourselves by providing unique customised solutions with 3D printing,” says Els.

He adds that the success the University has had with projects so far has enabled them to be eligible for the grant by the department.

The Centre for Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing (CRPM) is a 3D printing service bureau that operates within the CUT that gives everyone access to 3D printing technology.

“It puts us in a position to be competitive globally in exporting solutions [that can be developed in South Africa],” says Els.

CUT currently also runs a unit called Product Development Technology Station (PDTS) that focuses on using advanced manufacturing technologies for rural mobility like 3-in-1 wheelchairs.