THE FUTURE IS IN PRINT

A British firm's cutting-edge 3D-printing technology promises to make car parts cheaper, lighter, stronger, less wasteful and more customisable. Piers Ward learns how 

Is space the final frontier? Kieron Salter of engineering firm KWSP certainly seems to think so. Because despite being in charge of an automotive manufacturing consultancy down here on planet Earth, it's clear that he has designs on reaching beyond the atmosphere.

If nothing else shows the transformative winds coursing through the automotive industry at the moment, it's KWSP's attitude to the future. Salter has mentioned space at least half a dozen times in our opening conversation with him.

Weight and size are the key considerations up there, because everything has to be sent up in costly rockets, and this is the core focus of KWSP's exosphere work: an ongoing feasibility study into additive manufacturing in space.

"If I send the raw materials up into space and I have a 3D-printing factory in space, then I can send all the raw material and won't have to worry about how big [the part] is. If you can put all your raw materials [on the rocket], you can actually print structures as big as you want in space." That could include large structural elements of satellites, say.

Needless to say, I didn't expect to be discussing Star Trek-style tech solutions when I came to see Salter at his base in the Silverstone technology park. But then there's not much that's normal about this high-tech engineering company.

It's worth explaining who Salter and KWSP are, given the variety of work they're engaged in.

Salter started his career with motorsport constructor Reynard. That was wound up in 2002, but he was there for long enough that he managed to build up the contacts and business acumen that have stood him in good stead since.