News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
For the 5th year running, 3D printing service bureau Sculpteo has released its State of 3D Printing report, providing insights into the industry’s users, adoption, application areas and more. This year, for the first time, the broad study is also accompanied by the first edition of The State of Women in 3D Printing report, compiled in collaboration with Women in 3D Printing.
Manufacturing services company Jabil has entered into an agreement with Renault F1 Team to accelerate the development and delivery of 3D printed parts for the Renault R.S. 19 race car. The vehicle now competing in the 2019 Formula One World Championship, and, despite a fairly disappointing result in Monaco (9th place), it could get the competitive edge it needs thanks to 3D printed parts.
Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders affect millions of people across the globe and are expected to become more prevalent as populations age. Despite how widespread the conditions are, however, there are still no real cures fo the diseases, only treatments to lessen or control symptoms. Fortunately, 3D bioprinting processes are presenting a potential avenue for a cure, and researchers are beginning to explore the technology for drug screening applications. Canadian biomedical engineer Stephanie Willerth is one such researcher who is pioneering the use of bioprinting for brain tissues with her research group.
Polish 3D printing company Zortrax has evolved since its founding in 2013, moving beyond 3D printer hardware production into materials and software to offer a comprehensive 3D printing ecosystem to its customers. Its products—which include the Zortrax M200 Plus, M300 Dual, M300 Plus, Inventure and Inkspire 3D printers; a broad range of filaments and resins, Z-Suite software and more—are now offered in 90 countries across six continents.
In the mobility world, Italian company Momodesign has made a distinctive mark. First founded in the early 1980s, the company has become the benchmark in the field of design for city bikes, e-bikes, helmets and accessories. This has become especially true over the last 20 years, after Momodesign launched the first demi-jet helmet for the metropolitan scooterist, which became something of an international icon. Today, Momodesign is reaching new heights with its most recent creation: Aero, an innovative helmet with a unique design and high performance features.
3D printing has been something of a miracle for product designers, and especially for individual designers or small startups, as it enables the production of unique or one-off pieces. London-based Batch.works is a design startup that has exploited the benefits of additive manufacturing to create a collection of homeware items. The collection, which was unveiled this month, was realized in collaboration with Warsaw-based design practice UAU and Paris-based Bold Design.
One of the most important inventions of all time, the wheel paved the road for modern transportation to be developed, as it enabled people to travel and move goods faster than before. Today, the wheel is still undergoing development to improve efficiency and performance. At Formnext 2018, for instance, HRE Wheels and GE Additive announced that they had co-developed the first 3D printed titanium wheel, the HRE3D+. Now, the wheel production expert has reinvented the 3D printed wheel. Or, more accurately, it has revealed a new and improved design for the titanium assembly.
Since its founding in 2011, Lithuania-based CGTrader has grown into one of the biggest online marketplaces for 3D models. The platform hosts roughly 800,000 3D models and enables businesses to easily connect with talented 3D designers for 3D modeling projects and commissions for VR/AR applications, game development and 3D printing.
Just a couple of days ago SLM Solutions reported a Q1 financial performance below expectations, however, as is often the case in a young industry such as 3D printing, single quarter reports can be misleading. The company seems to be actually headed for further healthy growth as it inaugurated new expanded office facilities and application center for its Chinese HQ SLM Solutions Shanghai. After establishing Chinese operations in Shanghai in 2015, the new facility will strengthen SLM Solutions’ presence in China and allow local staff to collaborate with customers to foster selective laser melting innovation.
BASF 3D Printing Solutions is to provide innovative additive manufacturing materials to Paxis LLC for its new WAV (Wave Applied Voxel) technology. This is currently in development and is designed to meet the needs of additive manufacturing users, advanced manufacturing as well as traditional manufacturing markets. The WAV process was created with the end-user in mind in an effort to solve trapped volume issues of within current liquid resin-based technologies.