News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Despite some rocky beginnings, Russia’s Organ.Aut 3D bioprinter successfully reached outer space earlier this week and is already being put to good use. According to Russian scientists, the zero-gravity bioprinter has already printed a mouse’s thyroid aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
GKN Aerospace has announced its plans to open a new Global Technology Centre (GTC) in the UK in 2020. The new centre will reportedly span 10,000 square meters and will focus largely on additive manufacturing, advanced composites, assembly and industry 4.0 processes with the goal of enhancing high rate production of aircraft parts.
Swedish bioprinting company CELLINK has entered into a partnership with organ and tissue engineering company Prellis Biologics, Inc. with the goal of commercializing high-resolution holographic bioprinting technology for micro-scale printing. By combining their IP and respective expertise, the companies will introduce what they call the “first system enabling ultra-high resolution bioprinting of microstructures” for producing vascular networks.
Israeli metal and ceramic 3D printing company XJet has announced that Russian company AB Universal has signed on as its latest distribution partner. The distribution agreement, penned at Formnext 2018, will see AB Universal market and sell XJet’s Carmel AM systems in Russia.
PostProcess Technologies (PPT) has announced a new partnership with CUBRC, a not-for-profit scientific corporation specializing in machine learning research, development, testing and systems integration. PPT will utilize its new partner’s Heartwood Analytics suite to advance its own software platforms. The goal of the partnership is to improve PPT’s software offering for the automation and digitization of AM post-processing.
Over one hundred years ago, the Ford Motor Company reinvented manufacturing with the introduction of the assembly line. Today, the company has continued to show its propensity for innovation, exploring and utilizing new technologies to reinvigorate vehicle production.
CECIMO, the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries, has announced the establishment of a new additive manufacturing committee. The newly formed committee, which will be chaired by Stewart Lane, the corporate manager at Renishaw, will become the primary platform for discussing the challenges and opportunities for AM in relation to EU policy.
AMFG, a UK-based specialist in automation software for additive manufacturing, has announced a partnership with LEO Lane, a provider of security and IP protection solutions for the AM industry. Through their agreement, the companies will integrate their respective software solutions to offer a more secure, end-to-end workflow management platform for additive manufacturing.
Nanoscribe, a German company specializing in micrometer 3D printing, has introduced the successor model Photonic Professional GT2, a microfabrication 3D printer capable of larger print volumes.
As one might expect, creating a virtual 3D world is a laborious process that requires not only time and effort but also a high level of skill. Look at any video game, and the graphics will have required thousands and thousands of hours of work on the part of developers specialized in 3D rendering, lighting, textures and more.