The development of new tools for monitoring industrial processes is now a key element for the industrialization of additive manufacturing. In particular, in polymer powder bed fusion (PBF) used for printing 3D objects, most monitoring systems on the market are limited to observing only the surface, while many decisive phenomena occur within the material. And it is especially during cooling that the final properties of the components are determined: even small variations in cooling rates between parts produced in the same cycle can generate different microstructures and, consequently, non-uniform mechanical properties.

The Eureka (https://www.eurekanetwork.org/) Eurostar3 uTEAM project was aimed at addressing this challenge by developing a novel microwave-based monitoring technology. Unlike traditional thermal imaging cameras, microwaves penetrate materials and are able to measure the temperature inside printed objects. This allows to reconstruct tomographic maps and obtain a complete thermal profile of the entire build chamber. 

The project is the result of the collaboration of several partners with complementary expertise: 

• Gruppo FOS, project coordinator and responsible for the integration of the different components;
• the Applied Electromagnetics Group of the University of Genoa (UNIGE), resposible for the development of the imaging algorithms;
• the Institute of Systems and Applied Electronics (ISEA) of SUPSI, responsible for the technological development related to the measurement of microwave signals;
• INSPIRE AG, in charge of analyzing the behavior of polymers and developing high-performance mixtures from a mechanical and electrical point of view;
• Schleiss RTPech in St. Gallen, providing printers, mechanical support and access to experimental tests.

The final meeting of the project has been held in Lugano, Switzerland, on April 24, 2026.