Briefing 2025/26

Challenge Summary

Develop a digital tool that makes the carbon footprint of additively manufactured parts transparent across the entire production workflow. The solution should help users understand how different design and process choices influence sustainability performance and enable them to identify optimization potential in real time.

Objective

The goal of the challenge is to create a smart, user-friendly tool that can:

  • calculate the CO₂ footprint of an AM component along the full additive manufacturing process chain,

  • break down emissions across individual process steps,

  • reveal the impact of design and production decisions,

  • and support what-if simulations for more sustainable manufacturing choices.

A key focus should be on showing how parameters such as material selection, build orientation, infill density, support strategy, machine utilization, and post-processing affect the overall carbon impact.

Task

Participants are invited to develop a prototype, concept, or interactive application that:

  • calculates CO₂ emissions based on provided or assumed process data,

  • maps emissions along the additive manufacturing workflow (e.g. material production, printing, energy consumption, post-processing, transport),

  • visualizes the results through dashboards, heatmaps, process-chain views, or other intuitive formats,

  • compares alternative manufacturing scenarios, such as different materials, machine settings, build layouts, or logistics assumptions,

  • and optionally generates AI-supported recommendations for reducing emissions.

An especially strong solution would allow users to see live how design or process decisions change the CO₂ footprint of an AM part.

Why It Matters

As additive manufacturing continues to grow in industrial relevance, companies need practical tools to evaluate not only technical feasibility and cost, but also environmental performance.

Today, sustainability assessments are often too complex, too time-consuming, or not integrated into early-stage design and production decisions. A simple and accessible CO₂ optimization tool for AM could help manufacturers, engineers, and designers make better choices faster – and bring greater transparency to sustainable industrial innovation.

Expected Deliverables

Participants should present:

  • a functional prototype or convincing interactive concept,

  • a clear method for calculating or estimating the CO₂ footprint,

  • an intuitive visualization of the AM process and its emissions,

  • a scenario comparison and/or optimization logic,

  • and a final pitch including a short demo.

Target Groups

This challenge is aimed at makers, students, startups, developers, designers, engineers, and sustainability enthusiasts with an interest in digital manufacturing, additive manufacturing, climate impact, and industrial innovation.

Possible Guiding Idea

One possible direction for the challenge could be:

Develop a smart tool that calculates the CO₂ footprint of an additively manufactured part across the entire AM process chain – and shows in real time how design and process decisions such as material choice, orientation, infill density, or machine utilization influence the carbon impact.

Your contact persons

Dr. Johannes Gartner
AM Austria
President
LinkedIn

Michael Kitzmantel
AM Austria
Secretary
LinkedIn

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About us

The technology platform to promote & support the AM sector

We are AM Austria, the Austrian technology platform dedicated to promoting and advancing the additive manufacturing sector. As a non-profit association, we connect stakeholders from industry, research, education, politics, and media to strengthen Austria’s AM ecosystem and unlock the full potential of additive manufacturing for the country.

Our goal is to help position Austria as one of the world’s most innovative pioneers in additive manufacturing. We do this by fostering collaboration, supporting knowledge exchange, coordinating working groups and projects, and increasing the visibility of Austrian AM expertise at both national and international level.

Since our official launch in February 2018 in Vienna, we have grown into a strong platform for networking, cooperation, and innovation in additive manufacturing. We bring together committed actors from across the field and create opportunities for exchange through events, joint initiatives, and strategic activities that help drive the future of AM in Austria.

More details about AM Austria

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