This edition of our 3D printing news digest Sliced asks the following questions: How is 3D printing being used in post cancer surgery for dogs? How are rats and 3D bioprinting being used to repair damaged human diaphragms? How is 3D printing changing automotive design? All this and more from Dassault Systèmes, atum3D, The American Institute of Architects and Renishaw.
Indonesia prepares for Industry 4.0
Adaptive Corporation has acquired NobleTek’s Dassault Systèmes software sales and support division. Dassault Systèmes is a French 3D software company. Adaptive Corporation will provide current NobleTek customers with continued access to and support for the Dassault range of simulation and PLM software. Adaptive CEO Eric Doubell said “This acquisition allows us to increase our penetration in many areas and assures current NobleTek customers that we have a presence where they exist.”
The Indonesian government has launched an Industry 4.0 roadmap, “Making Indonesia 4.0.” President Joko Widodo is optimistic about the opportunities and jobs that Industry 4.0 will bring about, whilst emphasising the need for any potential economic growth to benefit all members of society.
Shining 3D, the Hangzhou headquartered manufacturer of 3D printers and scanners, has opened new offices in San Francisco. The offices will serve as the base of Shining 3D’s operations in North America. “The new office for the Americas is the logical next step in Shining 3D’s internationalization process,” said Oscar Meza, Shining 3D’s VP of Global Sales & CEO Shining 3D Technology, Inc. USA.
Ontario’s Manufacturing Innovation Summit took place yesterday, April 5. The conference gathered industry experts, investors and entrepreneurs from across Ontario’s manufacturing sector to share strategies for remaining globally competitive.
Sharebot, an Italian producer of 3D printers, is opening a showroom and headquarters in Ventura, California, in partnership with XponentialWorks. The move will expand Sharebot’s customer reach and reseller network throughout North America.
XJet Ltd, a manufacturer of metal and ceramic 3D printers, has installed an XJet Carmel 1400 AM 3D printer at Youngstown Business Incubator, Ohio. Entrepreneurs and researchers at the incubator will have access to the 1400 AM, the first 1400 AM in the U.S.
Keene Village Plastics, a manufacturer of 3D printing filament, has launched a new website. The company, then known as Village Plastics, was acquired by 3D Systems in 2013.
atum3D, a Netherlands-based producer of 3D printers, has moved into new headquarters in Gouda, Netherlands. atum3D has boasted that it intends to put the city, which they note is “already world-famous for its cheese”, on the global 3D printing industry map.
SME, a non-profit organisation seeking to advance manufacturing in North America, and Rapid News Communications Group, owners of TCT Group, have announced two new events. RAPID + TCT West and the RAPID + TCT Executive Strategy Summit will leverage the two organizations’ industry knowledge to promote greater adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies in North America.
3D printed pitching
Hailey Dawson from Las Vegas, aged 8, has thrown the first pitch in game 3 of the Padres Opening Day series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Dawson was born with Poland Syndrome, which caused her to have underdeveloped fingers on her right hand. Students at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ College of Engineering 3D printed the prosthetic hand that has allowed Dawson to grasp and throw a baseball.
The United Arab Emirates’ Abu Dhabi Police force, has launched a 3D printing initiative for the presentation of evidence in criminal investigations. The initiative, according to Brigadier Abdulrahman Al Hammadi, Director of the Criminal Evidence Administration, as reported by the Emirates News Agency, will “help to achieve justice without having to use original evidence and hurt the feelings of the families of victims.”
Eric Demeri, a science teacher in Lee County, Southern Florida, has 3D printed a prosthetic arm for one of his students, third grader Dulce Jaimes. Jaimes was born without half an arm, but thanks to Demeri is now able to help her family: “Now I can help my mom out with my brother” said Jaimes to ABC news.
Women in 3D printing, architectural research grants
Netia McCray, Founder and Executive Director of Massachusetts-based non-profit organisation Mbadika, has collaborated with AutoDesk’s Youth Engagement Manager, Erica Nwankwo, to produce MLab, a YouTube mini-series focused on technology. Speaking about Marvel’s Black Panther, Nwankwo said “I think the film really did a good job of portraying women in these different environments. That’s one of the passions behind the YouTube series, to show people of color using 3D printing with Tinkercad, laser cutting, and all these tools [which seem] inaccessible but are accessible.”
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Upjohn Research Initiative is distributing $100,000 worth in grants to architectural research and design projects. The grant, now in its eleventh year, will qualify recipients to have their research published by the AIA. Read about projects funded, here.
British engineering company Renishaw has launched its Fabrication Development Centre (FDC). The FDC is aiming to develop a steady pipeline of talent in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), by providing young people with hands-on learning experiences in STEM.
New BigRep TPU-based filament
BigRep has released a new TPU-based 3D printing filament, “PRO FLEX”. PRO FLEX is a flexible engineering material that offers high temperature resistance as well as low temperature impact resistance. Moshe Aknin, BigRep’s Chief Technology Officer, said “In terms of applications with PRO FLEX, we see high potential for 3D printing in fields like footwear, custom vibration dampers, and seals, due to its high chemical resistance”
Implants for dogs
Students at the University of Manchester have produced a 3D printed robotic prosthetic hand for amputees. The hand was built at a cost of £307. The hand’s joints are fully pose-able, enabling users to perform simple everyday tasks such as picking up items, using a knife and fork, or even typing.
A 3D printed titanium implant has been successfully used to replace the hard tissue lost from the removal of a tumor in a seven year old Bernese mountain dog. German medical 3D design company Voxelmed designed the implant based on 3D scans of the affect area, whilst Renishaw 3D printed it.
Taiwan’s National Applied Research Labs and China Medical University Hospital are collaborating on a strategic partnership with the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster in Singapore. The collaboration will focus on a range of 3D printing initiatives related to biomedical applications.
Researchers at UC San Diego (UCSD), have 3D printed a wearable device for the monitoring of electrical activity in the stomach over 24 hours. Researchers say the device has applications in the monitoring of GI activity outside of clinical settings. The 3D printed box is connected to 10 electrodes which are attached to the stomach. Results from the device are comparable to more expensive and invasive methods used in clinics.
Researchers from Saga University and Kyushu University, have published a paper detailing their use of 3D bioprinted cellular patches to repair damaged human diaphragms attached to rats. The researchers used Cyfuse Biomedical’s Regenova 3D bioprinter to produce cellular patches with a tube wall thickness of 1 mm. The paper, published in the Biomaterials journal, is titled “Regeneration of diaphragm with bio-3D cellular patch.”
SprintRay, manufacturer of the MoonRay desktop DLP 3D printer, have fully integrated 3Shape’s Implant Studio software with their 3D printers. SprintRay’s 3D printers can now use 3Shape Implant Studio to 3D print surgical guides for dental implant surgeries.
3D printing changing automotive design
Oliver Heilmer, head of design at the British automaker Mini, has described how 3D printing is changing the automotive design process. At the 2018 New York International Auto Show Heiler told The Drive that “we can do things now as designers that we couldn’t do before we had 3D printing. [For example,] This entire door panel is one piece, and when manufactured by 3D printing it’s much lighter. But we can also change the look and feel of it at any moment, even after the manufacturing starts, without having to create new tools to make it. Before this, it would take more than a year to make a change happen.”
HW Audio, maker of audiophile in-ear monitors, are crowdfunding a new range of customisable in-ear monitors using 3D printing. According to HW Audio’s Kickstarter page, standard methods of manufacturing such as injection molding failed to produce the design the company wanted.
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Featured image shows A 3D printed titanium impant for lost tissue in the maxilla of a Bernese mountain dog. Photo via Renishaw.
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