About
Usamah Derwaish
Postgraduate Researcher
UCD
Usamah Derwaish is a PhD researcher at I-Form, based at University College Dublin (UCD), focusing on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and conducted research at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig, Germany. With a diverse background spanning industry and academia, Usamah has worked on climate change mitigation strategies at Asia Impacts in Switzerland and served as an Intellectual Property (IP) Analyst at Datalogic in Italy. His expertise includes technological innovation, sustainable solutions, patent analysis, greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting, and Design for Environment (DfE). Driven by a commitment to transforming industrial practices, he is dedicated to empowering the manufacturing sector to reduce its carbon footprint. His research combines innovative science with actionable, scalable solutions that align with global sustainability objectives.
Technical Summary
This project integrates Design for Environment (DfE) principles and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies to develop a digital tool that quantifies and helps to minimise the environmental footprint of manufacturing processes, with a particular focus on Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. By integrating sustainability into both design and production, the project bridges the gap between scientific frameworks and industrial applications.
A key element of the project is the implementation of DfE principles, ensuring sustainability is prioritised from the initial stages of product development. Additionally, the project compares AM and Conventional Manufacturing (CM) technologies, evaluating their environmental and economic impacts. AM techniques such as laser powder bed fusion and direct energy deposition improve material efficiency and reduce waste but vary in energy consumption and post-processing requirements. By comparing these AM methods with conventional techniques like CNC milling and grinding, the project identifies the most sustainable and cost-effective manufacturing solutions.
One of the main challenges in sustainable manufacturing is the lack of specialised tools for evaluating the environmental and economic impact of AM. Existing LCA tools, such as Ecochain, SimaPro, and GaBi, do not fully capture the complexities of AM and CM processes. This project addresses this gap by developing a toolbox that integrates with commercial CAD/CAM platforms, enabling real-time environmental and techno-economic assessments. By enhancing existing databases with AM-specific data, the toolbox provides more precise and accessible insights, helping industries make informed decisions that balance innovation, sustainability, and profitability.