add+it+tech was founded in 2013 by Aran and Melissa Fitzgerald when Aran was working as the managing director of Steg Engineering. It operated under the auspices of Steg Engineering until 2016, when it was spun-off as its own trading entity.
The kernel idea for add+it+tech was born whilst Aran and Melissa were living in Switzerland. Aran was working as a combustion engineer and a technical project manager for the industrial giant Alstom. Whilst working as a techical project manager, he was involved in a project where 3D metal printing (SLM) was successfully implemented in a critical turbine component. The light-bulb moment was seeing the components come out out of the engine completely in-tact and realising that 3D printing in metals is no fad and will shape the future in unknown ways.
Initially add+it+tech offered Australian businesses access to the very costly metal 3D printing services via an ex colleague who provided this service in Switzerland. Whilst plastics started as an affordable means to promote the business, the demand for this service has grown in sometimes surprising directions. More recently add+it+tech went into 3D production parts for Crown Melbourne with quantities of over 100 parts.
A project started with Steg Engineering brought in Tristan Horne to the company. He was tasked with building a custom CNC welding machine for a specific repetitive job. During the testing of this device, it was discovered that, even with a relatively 'hot' pulse MIG welding system, it was still possible to build-up weld metal in beads, one on top of the other. Instantly seeing the significance of being able to 3D print parts in metal of a scale and a speed an order of magnitude better than the SLM technique, RoAr-AM was born. After some remarkably successful prototype testing, it was decided to invest in a specialised robotic arc-welding system to further develop the technology and offer it as a service as early as the end of 2016.
Along with offering 3D metal printing with SLM technology and plastics with FDM and SLA technologies, add+it+tech is also currently engaged in an Australian government supported research and development project do further the RoAr-AM system as a service and as a product.
Founder and Managing Director
Aran Fitzgerald
BE Mech Hons, MEngSci (Research), MIEAust
Chief Development Engineer
BE Aero, MEngSci Aero
Davide Chini
Founder and Director
Dr. Melissa Fitzgerald-Preissner
BE Mech Hons, BArts (Phil,German), PhD
