ISRAEL’S CHIEF SCIENTIST PROMOTES 3D PRINTING

Chief Scientist at the Israel Ministry of Economy Avi Hasson: “The field of
three-dimensional printing is taking its first strides in manufacturing
processes. This is a fascinating new field which can be expected to
significantly influence processes and products in the future. It is
important that Israel enter the world of 3D printing and it will be a
challenge to do so with components that meet stringent standards, as is in
the aviation industry.”

JERUSALEM. April 21st, 2015 -- The MAGNET (Generic Technology R&D)
committee, headed by the Chief Scientist in the Israel Ministry of Economy
Avi Hasson, has given a green light to Atid – a consortium to produce
aviation constructions printed three-dimensionally in titanium – which will
start working in the second half of 2015.

The significance of this approval is that the consortium can continue its
preparations, including outlining mission statements and generating work
plans for the next three years, including a detailed plan for the first
year.

The Atid consortium – led by Cyclone, an affiliate of Elbit Systems – will
develop generic technologies which can serve as an infrastructure for
manufacturing optimal buildings for the Israeli aviation industry by
printing them in 3D. The consortium will not develop printers but rather use
existing printers for the planning and manufacturing of complex
aviation-related structures.

The innovative aspect of the consortium will be the ability to plan and
manufacture geometrically complex structures which can only be manufactured
via 3D printing.

The companies making up the consortium are Cyclone, the Israel Aerospace
Industry, Israeli Military Industries, Orbit, Algat, CAS, Admar and
researchers from the University of Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion University, the
Technion, the Metallurgical Institute and Afeka College, among others.

Avi Hasson, Chief Scientist at the Israeli Ministry of Economy, remarked
that “The field of 3D printing is taking its first strides in manufacturing
processes. This is a fascinating new field which can be expected to
significantly influence processes and products in the future. It is
important that Israel enter the world of 3D printing and it will be a
challenge to do so with components that meet stringent standards, as is in
the aviation industry”

Ilan Peled, director-general of the MAGNET Committee, added that “This third
consortium, in addition to the already approved Infomedia and Omek
Consortia, effectively completes the consortium program for 2015, in which
there are 12 active consortia with a total working budget of NIS200
million.”