Keltia’ s Director, Kevin Burtchaell recently had the opportunity to pay a visit to Mr Jeff Smith Senior Director of the Innovation Centre with Dassault Systémes at the Wichita State University’s Campus in Kansas USA. This is part of Keltia’ s ongoing engagement with Dassault Systèmes to introduce CATIA support and training based in Ireland by Keltia to Irish Industry.
In partnership with Leading global manufacturers in the aerospace and other hi-Tec industries the Wichita State University Innovation centre provides students and innovators access to the latest software and manufacturing technology. Dassault Systèmes and Airbus are just some of the Global companies supporting this Innovation community which provides students and business partners the opportunity to see first-hand the latest technology available, while also providing opportunities to talk with the creative people behind cutting edge and exciting manufacturing developments.
Among the goals for the WSU Innovation facility is the use of advanced technology to significantly streamline the production process from concept to creation offering the state-of-the-art capability to demonstrate to business partners how the latest manufacturing technology works and how it can be implemented in a real-world application.
Cloud-based collaboration connects the facility to global partners, and all levels of development from start-ups to the major players in the Aerospace industry. Two of the most impressive features of this facility included an impressive MRAM (multi-robot advanced manufacturing) room and a high-definition VR CAVE (cubic immersive room — cave automatic virtual environment).
AS this was a quick visit, we only managed to see a small portion of this fantastic facilities but it was enough to be more than impressed. Some of the items which stuck out included:
- Conceptual design Collaboration Room & Concept Refinement partnered with Dassault Systèmes.
- Concept Validation; virtual reality CAVE and motion capture.
- Hybrid Manufacturing; Scalable, Multi-Robotic Advanced Additive Manufacturing (MRAM).
- Prototyping and Production; Additive manufacturing, new engineered materials development, and 3D printing.
All our thanks to Mr Jeff Smith the WSU Centre’s Director who very generously extend an invitation for us to visit when we met at Last Year’s Farnborough Air Show. Well worth a trip to Kansas.

Precision component printing:- Item 3 from the left has 1 /3 of the weight of a traditionally machined part.

Kevin & Jeff Smith at the GO Create facility within the Innovation Centre Wichita State University, Kansas