News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
A team led by construction robotics startup X-Hab 3D has completed the structural walls of a 3D-printed concrete home in Nome, Alaska — a first for additive construction in the region’s extreme coastal climate. Located on the edge of the Bering Sea, the site posed significant logistical and environmental hurdles, offering a real-world test of automation in remote housing applications.
CurifyLabs, a company developing 3D printing technology for compounded medications, has released its next-generation software platform, CurifyLabs Create. The system is designed to give pharmacists greater flexibility to design and modify formulations when needed.
PROTEOR, a company specializing in prosthetic innovation and 3D printing for the orthotics and prosthetics (O&P) sector, has announced a collaboration with Mariia Yelizarova, Head of Operational Excellence at TrainAI (RWS), along with One World Strong and Unbroken Ukraine. The partnership aims to expand access to prosthetic care for veterans and civilians in Ukraine who have lost limbs as a result of the ongoing war.
According to Carnegie Mellon University, new research from the College of Engineering combines drones, additive manufacturing, and large language models to rethink the future of aerial construction. The new developments are expected to enable the building of shelters, the reinforcement of infrastructure, and the construction of bridges in inaccessible areas.
Researchers publishing in nonprofit organization ACS Nano have developed a 3D printable bio-active glass that could serve as an effective bone replacement material. In tests on rabbits, this material supported bone cell growth more effectively than plain glass and showed longer-term growth than a commercially available bone substitute.
Researchers at the University of Michigan and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have demonstrated how to 3D print tubular structures that block vibrations using their internal geometry. The study, published in Physical Review Applied, builds on decades of theory and computational work to create materials that passively prevent vibrations from traveling through them.
While marine and forest restoration efforts can often get more attention, desert restoration is also a vital part of environmental efforts. In China, for instance, there has been a growing interest in restoring desert ecosystems with the goal of reducing the risk of sandstorms and combating desertification through the planting of trees, shrubs and grasses to create a “desert-locking forest.” The work involved in planting and maintaining these forests in the arid desert is, as one might imagine, extremely arduous. In a bid to improve the conditions for the volunteer rangers on desert duty, sustainability-focused design studio designRESERVE has built a modular shelter system, called Desert Ark, in the Tengger Desert in Inner Mongolia.
The Atlanta VA Healthcare System (VAHCS) is now the first VA facility to provide advanced 3D printed casts and splints. Using the ActivArmor system, the facility can produce orthopedic devices that are customizable, waterproof, and breathable. These devices support a wide range of services, including Orthopedics, the Emergency Room, Occupational and Physical Therapy, Podiatry, and diabetic clinics.
Amnovis, a contract manufacturer focused on 3D printed medical devices, has marked its fifth anniversary with the delivery of its 100,000th 3D printed implant.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) have developed a technique enabling dentists to 3D print permanent zirconia crowns and other restorations within hours instead of days.