Melt spinning is a fibre production process that involves melting a polymer and extruding it through a spinneret to form filaments. The filaments are then cooled and solidified by air or water. Melt spinning is used to produce synthetic fibres such as polyester, nylon and polypropylene.

Wet spinning is a fibre production method that involves extruding a polymer solution through a spinneret into a coagulation bath, where the solvent is removed and the fibre solidifies. Wet spinning is suitable for polymers that are not thermally stable or have high melting points, such as rayon, acrylic, aramid, and carbon fibre precursor.

Fibre production electro spinning is a process that uses electric fields to produce fine fibres from polymer solutions. The process involves applying a high voltage to a droplet of polymer solution, which forms a jet that is stretched and solidified by the electric field. The resulting fibres have diameters ranging from nanometres to micrometres and can be used for various applications such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, filtration and sensors.

Injection moulding is an incredibly repeatable production technique, with parts being made by pouring molten material into a mould and letting it set. Microinjection moulding has taken this practice and reduces the scale by an order of magnitude to reliably create parts that feature structures that measure micrometres in size. The resolution of this process makes it ideal for the batch production and scale up of microfluidic devices for prototyping and testing purposes. Making injection moulding microscale requires intense control of injection pressure, temperature, and the ability to fabricate intricate moulds.

UV laser micro milling is a technique of using ultraviolet (UV) laser pulses to create precise and complex structures on various materials, such as polymers, ceramics, and metals. The UV laser beam can remove material by breaking the molecular bonds directly, resulting in minimal heat effects and high-quality surface finish. The process can achieve sub-micron resolution and accuracy, and can produce a wide range of 3D features, such as holes, grooves, patterns, and contours. UV laser micro milling is a key technology for producing microcomponents for applications in fields such as microfluidics, photonics, biotechnology, and electronics.

A laser that emits ultra-short pulses of light, used for precise cutting and machining at the microscopic level.

Ceramic Isostatic Laminating is a process that uses water as a medium to apply uniform pressure on ceramic parts before firing. This method reduces de-lamination and improves the quality and yield of multilayer ceramic components. The parts are sealed in flexible bags and laminated under controlled temperature and pressure conditions.

Ceramic tape cutting is a process that involves slicing thin sheets of ceramic material with a heated blade into desired shapes and sizes. This process is usually done before the ceramic is sintered, which is a high-temperature treatment that makes the ceramic denser and stronger. Ceramic tape cutting can be done manually or with automated machines, depending on the accuracy and complexity of the design. Ceramic tape cutting is used for various applications, such as electronic components, sensors, filters, and membranes.

A green tape stacker/aligner is a device that stacks and aligns thin ceramic sheets, also known as green tapes, for the fabrication of multilayer ceramic packages. The device uses a vacuum system to pick up and place the green tapes on a platform, and a camera system to align them with high precision. The device can handle various sizes and thicknesses of green tapes, and can stack up to hundreds of layers in a single operation.

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Assembly is the process of mounting electronic components on a PCB. A PCB is a board that has copper traces that connect different points together and provide mechanical support for the components. PCB Assembly involves applying solder paste, placing components, inspection of solder joints, and testing the functionality of the circuit.

Ultrasonic milling is an advanced subtractive fabrication technique that superimposes high‑frequency ultrasonic vibrations onto a rotating cutting tool to dramatically improve the machining of hard, brittle, and advanced materials. By oscillating the tool at amplitudes up to approximately 15 µm, the process reduces cutting forces by up to 50%, enabling faster feed rates, improved surface quality, and significantly lower tool wear.

This hybrid approach is particularly effective for materials that are prone to cracking or chipping under conventional milling, including ceramics, glass, corundum, carbides, and fibre‑reinforced composites. Ultrasonic machining also minimises sub‑surface damage, reducing downstream polishing requirements and enabling the fabrication of high‑precision components for optics, photonics, micro‑mechanical systems, and semiconductor applications.

CNC milling is a conventional manufacturing technique that uses a computer to control a milling cutter. It can be used to precisely machine geometries and features into a substrate, or to mill hot embossing stamps and jigs that may be used to fabricate micro structured features in devices. The equipment typically mills material in either two or three axes, metal, ceramics or plastics depending on the cutter that is used.

Various milling processes

“Ball Milling is a mechanical process used for grinding, mixing, and reducing the size of materials through impact and attrition. It involves rotating a cylindrical chamber filled with grinding media—typically steel, ceramic, or rubber balls—along with the material to be processed. As the chamber rotates, the balls collide with the material, breaking it down into finer particles.

This technique is widely used in mining, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, and material science for applications such as powder production, alloying, and particle size refinement. Ball milling can be performed in wet or dry conditions, depending on the desired outcome. It is particularly effective for homogenizing mixtures, enhancing reactivity in solid-state chemistry, and producing nanomaterials.”

An ultraprecision lathe is a machine tool that can produce very accurate and smooth workpieces, such as contact lenses, mould inserts, or optical components. It uses a diamond tool to cut the material, which can be metal or non-metal. It has a high-stiffness spindle and slides that are controlled by a CNC system. An ultraprecision lathe can achieve polish-free surface quality and complex shapes with minimal errors.

Draw towers are used to create fibres, such as optical fibres, by heating and stretching a bulk material (or preform) to create long strands. The design and composition of this preform results in different abilities of the fibres once drawn out, such as stronger fibres, more efficient data transmission, or a broader available bandwidths for carrying information.

An Advanced Fibre Bragg grating is a type of optical fibre device that reflects specific wavelengths of light and transmits others. It consists of a periodic modulation of the refractive index along the fibre core, creating a wavelength-selective mirror. Advanced fibre Bragg gratings can be used for various applications, such as sensing, communication, and signal processing.

Once a bulk glass material has been produced, it has to be made into something useful. If the aim is to produce some sort of fibre optic, draw towers are used to create glass fibres by heating and stretching a bulk material (or preform) to create long strands. The design and composition of this preform results in different abilities of the fibres once drawn out, such as stronger fibres, more efficient data transmission, or a broader available bandwidths for carrying information. Polishing involves reducing the surface roughness of a substrate by physical means. In the micro and nano worlds this is typically done to alter a surfaces optical properties, making it more reflective or transparent depending on the substrate.

The ability to create objects of a fixed cross-sectional profile by pushing material through a die of the desired cross-section. Extrusion systems are used to create optical fibres.

Roll-to-roll printing is a technique that is widely used to print newspapers, magazines and many other conventional printed products that are required in large quantities. The ANFF equipment is based on this principle but allows for the user to print functionalised inks onto novel materials – it’s already enabling the creation of printable solar panels that can be created at incredibly high speeds. A roll of substrate (traditionally paper, but now polymers substrates for flexible electronics) is fed through a series of printing steps, until it is collated on a new roll at the other end.

Inkjet printing is similar to the process conducted in most offices across the world, but instead of using conventional inks, researchers are beginning to use conductive liquids, or even photovoltaic ones, to give a printed product far greater functionality.

Screen printing is a technique that uses a mesh screen and a stencil to transfer a layer of different inks onto a substrate. Screen printing is widely used for making electrodes, sensors, antennas, and other electronic devices that require high conductivity and flexibility. This type of screen printing can produce fine patterns with low cost and high throughput.

3D Metal Printing creates a three-dimensional metal structure by building metal layers upon metal layers, much like conventional 3D printing with plastics.3D printing with metals has open the door to rapidly-produced, customised parts that can be incredibly durable. For applications such as

3D printing involves taking a model and slicing into layers, then printing these layers on top of one another to recreate a 3D component. It’s an incredibly quick way to produce unique parts, or for small production runs, and is massively useful when wanting to quickly create prototypes. A variety of materials can be printed, such as polymers, metals and biological materials – however, desktop 3D printers tend to use plastics.

3D Bioprinting is an advanced additive manufacturing technique that fabricates complex biological structures by precisely depositing layers of bioinks composed of living cells, biomaterials, and growth factors onto a substrate. This process enables the creation of tissue-like constructs that mimic the architecture and function of natural tissues.

Fused deposition modelling (FDM), also know as fused filament fabrication (FFF), is an additive manufacturing (AM) process in which a physical object is created directly from a computer-aided design (CAD) model using layer-by-layer deposition of a feedstock plastic filament material extruded through a nozzle.

Multi-material 3D printing can print complex shapes and structures using a variety of materials, such as ceramics, polymers, metals and organic compounds. It uses inkjet technology to deposit droplets of material on a substrate, layer by layer, with high precision and resolution. It can be used for applications in electronics, biotechnology, aerospace and more.

Nanoprinting is an advanced fabrication technique used to create nanoscale structures, patterns, and devices with high precision and resolution. This technology enables the controlled deposition or removal of materials at the nanometer scale, allowing for the creation of intricate features and functionalities. Nanoprinting is widely used in various applications, including electronics, photonics, and biomedicine.

3D glass printing is an advanced additive manufacturing technique that creates intricate glass structures layer by layer. It begins with digital designs that are converted into machine-readable instructions. Glass material, often in the form of rods or filaments, is heated to a molten state and extruded through a nozzle onto a build platform. The process requires high temperatures, typically around 1300°C, to melt the glass and maintain its properties during deposition. Each layer solidifies as it cools, forming a strong and precise three-dimensional object.

This technique enables the production of complex geometries and internal structures that are challenging to achieve with traditional glassmaking methods. It is energy-efficient and supports sustainability by incorporating recycled glass materials.

Glass moulding is a process that involves shaping glass into precise optical components without the need for grinding or polishing. Known as precision glass moulding or ultra-precision glass pressing, this technique is essential for creating high-quality lenses used in various consumer products, such as digital cameras, and in sophisticated equipment like medical systems. The process is highly efficient for producing complex shapes, including aspheric geometries, which are challenging to achieve with traditional mechanical production methods.

Textile weaving is the process of creating fabrics by interlacing yarns or threads in a perpendicular manner. It can produce various types of fabrics with different patterns, textures, and properties.

Yarn processing involves applying various methods to alter the properties of yarns. Some common yarn processing techniques are twisting, which adds torsion to the yarns to increase their cohesion and durability, and covering, which wraps a filament around a core yarn to create a composite yarn with different characteristics.

Yarn spinning is the process of transforming short stable fibres such as cotton, wool, silk, or synthetic fibers into yarns that can be used for weaving, or knitting. Yarn spinning is a specific stage of yarn production that involves drawing out and twisting the fibers to create a continuous strand of yarn. Different types of spinning methods, such as ring spinning, open-end spinning, or air-jet spinning, can produce different qualities and characteristics of yarns.

Non woven textiles are fabrics that are made by bonding or interlocking fibers together, rather than weaving or knitting them. Non woven textiles can be produced by various methods, such as mechanical, thermal, chemical, or solvent bonding. Non woven textiles are widely used in various industries, such as medical, hygiene, agriculture, geotextile, automotive, and filtration.

Textile knitting is the process of creating fabrics by interlacing yarns or threads in a loop manner. It can produce various types of fabrics with different patterns, textures, and properties.