Beyond the Hype: 10 Industrial Trends Redefining 3D Printing in 2026
If you’re still talking about 3D printing as a "novelty," you’re missing the biggest shift in modern ...

News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
If you’re still talking about 3D printing as a "novelty," you’re missing the biggest shift in modern ...
Researchers at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) have revealed a new wound dressing that can both monitor a wound and deliver medicine automatically when the tissue shows signs of trouble.
The Maxwell Medical Group’s Dental Flight, the dental unit at Maxwell Air Force Base (AFB) in Alabama, is enhancing support for active-duty Airmen by expanding advanced oral surgery services and adopting digital dentistry tools. These upgrades allow the clinic to handle complex procedures in-house, improving efficiency and continuity of care for service members.
A team of researchers from Duke University and Penn State, led by Julia Oh, PhD, and Ibrahim Ozbolat, PhD, is using a 3D bioprinted lung model to study how influenza and bacteria interact in human lung tissue. Funded by a $3.2 million NIH grant over four years, the project aims to uncover why some co-infections worsen illness, with experiments conducted in labs at Duke and Penn State.
Construction 3D printing technologies are being used to build myriad structures, from student housing blocks, to pedestrian bridges, to military bunkers. Soon, we will see 3D printing used to build a new parish church in Czechia. The project, to be the first of its kind, was recently given the blessing of the Archdiocese of Prague, who recognized the potential of the technology to build a place of worship with an innovative design and acoustics, while also bringing down building costs.
Shimizu Corporation, a Japanese construction, architecture, and engineering firm established in 1804, has developed a spray-based 3D concrete printing system designed for the construction of large, curved reinforced components. The system integrates a nine-degree-of-freedom gantry robot with a material spray simulator that enables verification of sprayed-material behavior in advance. This enables highly accurate, automated fabrication of reinforced structural components and large components with complex geometries, applications that were difficult to realize using conventional material extrusion printing. The material spray simulator incorporated into the system was jointly developed with the Computational Engineering and Robotics Lab (CERLAB), led by Professor Kenji Shimada of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.
Ever find yourself staring at a blank wall at home, just visualizing your next project? We all know ...
Custom 3D printed models tailored to individual patients are helping surgeons remove oral cancers with greater precision, according to new research from The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). In 92 percent of head and neck surgeries that used a 3D model during the operation, complete tumor removal was achieved, compared to 74 percent of surgeries performed without one. Researchers report that this approach allows for more accurate excision of malignant tissue while preserving healthy structures, potentially reducing the need for follow-up treatment.
A team of researchers from the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania has unveiled a new flooring installation that demonstrates how 3D printing and cutting-edge design can be combined to create structures that significantly reduce concrete consumption and, consequently, the carbon footprint of construction. The project, called “3D-Printed Dual-Banded High-Performance Concrete Floor”, is led by Dr. Masoud Akbarzadeh, Associate Professor of Architecture and director of the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory (PSL).
US-based 3D printer manufacturer 3D Systems has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance broadening the approved use of its VSP Orthopedics virtual surgical planning and patient-specific instrumentation platform. The clearance now covers skeletally mature adolescents with normal bone structure, in addition to adult patients. This change removes previous regulatory constraints that limited use in adolescent cases and formally brings these procedures within the platform’s labeled indications.