News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
DSM and JuggerBot 3D have launched a trial program for industrial-grade 3D printing applications using high-performance materials. Manufacturers can validate the benefits of additive manufacturing and build technology expertise without the need for upfront capital investment.
Carl Robert Deckard, the inventor known in the additive manufacturing for inventing and commercializing selective laser sintering technology, passed away on December 23, 2019. Along with the original SLS patent, Carl held 27 patents and was profiled by Fortune magazine as one of five modern technology pioneers, inducted into the Manufacturing Hall of Fame by Industry Week, and named a Master of Manufacturing by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
Over the past few years, it has been a pleasure to follow the evolution and growth of the additive manufacturing industry, covering many firsts and breakthrough innovations. As the technology matures across all fronts—hardware, materials, software and applications—we will likely see fewer “first 3D printed” announcements, but that does not mean the industry will be any less exciting.
Barcelona-based 3D printer manufacturer BCN3D has signed a distribution agreement with Turkish company 3Dörtgen, furthering its global distribution market. 3Dörtgen now has distribution rights within the Turkish market for BCN3D’s Sigma and Sigmax 3D printers as well as 3D printing materials and accessories.
In October 2019, GE Additive and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) signed a five-year R&D agreement to jointly accelerate the industrialization of additive manufacturing. The partnership, which builds upon ORNL’s preceding work with Arcam (acquired by GE in 2016), seeks to establish reliability and consistency in the metal AM process to ensure that critical applications—such as those in aerospace—can be carried out.
Multi-material 3D printing company Voxel8 has appointed Dr. Friedrich von Gottberg as its President and Chief Executive Officer. von Gottberg will step in to replace former CEO Travis Busbee as well as become a new member of the company’s Board of Directors. Busbee for his part, has been named Chief Technology Officer.
The Virtual Foundry, a manufacturer of metal filaments, has named Chicago-based Sapphire 3D as the first certified sintering partner for its plastic-infused metal filaments. Using a combination of The Virtual Foundry’s Filamet products and Sapphire 3D’s heat treating technology, users can produce high-quality and high-purity metal components.
3D printing giant Stratasys has today announced the appointment of a new chief executive officer, Yoav Zeif. With extensive executive management experience, Zeif will officially join Stratasys in the leadership position on February 18, 2020. Until then, Elchanan Jaglom will continue to act as interim CEO—he will also maintain his role as Chairman.
Chemicals company Henkel has signed a development agreement in cooperation with Boston-based 3D printing startup Fortify. Through the partnership, the companies will combine their expertise—materials development and Digital Composite Manufacturing (DCM), respectively—to advance resin-based additive manufacturing.
German automotive corporation Daimler is no stranger to additive manufacturing. In recent years, the company has exploited the benefits of AM for the production of prototypes and serial production custom parts. Notably, the company played a key role in the NextGenAM project with Premium AEROTEC and EOS to develop an automated metal AM process for manufacturing truck parts.