Although 3D printing is a relatively quick process, creating a final prototype or a production-ready product with the technology can take months or even years. Hungarian college-student team SZEngine can attest to this, having produced the world’s first 3D-printed engine for use in a Formula Student racing car in 2018 after nearly two years of work.
The project began in 2016 when Zoltán Dudás, a 3D metal printing specialist at Audi Hungaria, based in Gyor, Hungary, was instructed to print a fully functioning engine using the SLM280 machine from SLM Solutions Group AG. Upon learning that SZEngine wanted to mill engine parts at the plant’s Motor Manufacturing Center (MMC), Dudás decided to allow the student team to not just mill the components, but print them from scratch with the SLM280.