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Desktop Metal Receives $9M 3D Printer Order from German Car Maker https://ift.tt/T6SiDKh Original equipment manufacturer (OEM) Desktop Metal (NYSE: DM) announced that the company has received a $9 million order from a “large German car manufacturer.” Although it is not clear which platform was purchased in particular, DM noted in a press release that the order was for a metal binder jetting system. According to DM, this is the second platform ordered by the same German company in less than a year, which brings the purchases by said unnamed car manufacturer to a total of $16.9 million during that timeframe. This latest sale was for a platform that will be used in the production of powertrain components for the commercial auto market. 
It is not news that, against the backdrop of a generally dismal 2022 for American equity markets, OEMs in the AM sector have had an especially difficult year. Unsurprisingly, companies such as DM, which went public not long before markets saw their peaks in 2021, have endured the most challenging operating conditions. In a recent interview with 3DPrint.com’s editor-in-chief, Michael Molitch-Hou, Fulop acknowledged the macro difficulties that all companies have faced this year. Echoing financial analysts’ increasingly pessimistic consensus about the trajectory of the global economy, Fulop cautioned that the unforgiving fiscal environment is likely to continue into 2023. On the other hand, I’ve noted before that, for the AM sector, there is a silver lining to take away from a rough 2022: any company that survives it will have proven its tenacity and adaptability to investors. As for DM, the European auto market could turn out to be one of the best sectors for an AM hardware firm to have exposure to. Put simply, no one knows what will happen next year. In this sense, at least for some companies, there is perhaps just as much reason to think that the bleakness of 2022 is a sign that a bottom is being reached, as there is to think that it forebodes a far worse financial climate in the near-term. Images courtesy of Desktop Metal The post Desktop Metal Receives $9M 3D Printer Order from German Car Maker appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/N7m8BLP November 29, 2022 at 10:12AM
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3D Printing News Unpeeled: 3D Printing MEMS, Desktop Metal gets a $9 Million Order https://ift.tt/yGix8jI Props for the movie Black Panther Wakanda Forever have been 3D printed, Desktop Metal reports that it has received a $9 million order from an unnamed European automaker. Research looks into making MEMS components using 3D Printing. The post 3D Printing News Unpeeled: 3D Printing MEMS, Desktop Metal gets a $9 Million Order appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/N7m8BLP November 29, 2022 at 10:12AM
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3D Printing Financials: Markforged’s Supply Chain Issues Wind Down FX20 Production https://ift.tt/WNKqhuQ Supply chain disruptions continue to torment the manufacturing industry. In additive manufacturing, the challenging operating environment is harming production continuity. For Markforged (NYSE: MKFG), in particular, these production hurdles slowed its ramp to volume production, and as a result, the company was unable to meet its revenue target for the quarter. Despite a challenging macro environment, Markforged CEO Shai Terem said the company delivered another solid quarter as demand for The Digital Forge continues to grow globally. As a result, revenue increased by 5%, to $25.2 million, in the third quarter of 2022 from $24 million year-over-year. Specifically, revenue in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region grew 82% during the three months that ended September 30, 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, led by solid demand for mature products and accelerated demand for the brand’s continuous composite 3D printer line, the FX20.  The FX20 3D printer by Markforged
During a conference call with investors, Terem and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mark Schwartz said that solving supply chain problems today would ensure production continuity of its machines, like the FX20. However, Schwartz pointed out that despite best efforts, Markforged could not secure electrical and mechanical components to complete the production of FX20 units and meet the growing demand. The FX20 is the largest and most precise continuous fiber machine Markforged has ever produced, opening up high-temp materials. As the company’s newest production-grade printer, the FX20’s demand continues to exceed internal expectations as manufacturers seek solutions to make their own supply chains more resilient and flexible. Management said that despite being unable to meet the platform’s demand and the cost of the FX20 production exceeding estimates, Markforged exited the quarter with one of the largest pipelines in the company’s history.
Is profitability on track?The company took certain measures to address its long-term profitability growth. For example, strong cost controls allowed Markforged to see sequential operating leverage and deliver on its earnings per share (EPS) target in the third quarter. Even more so, the company reorganized its go-to-market team and reprioritized initiatives with the potential for the greatest impact on profitable growth. These cost controls resulted in a strong balance sheet that Markforged anticipates will keep it on the path to profitability in 2024. However, profitability for the period missed its mark, as the firm posted a net loss of $23 million, or 12 cents per share, for the quarter, a decline from last year’s quarterly net profit of $21.7 million, or 13 cents per share. As a percentage of revenue, Schwartz indicated that net loss improved compared to the second quarter of 2022. However, he also pointed out that the current cost of producing an FX 20 versus the target at steady state production negatively impacted Markforged’s gross profit by $1.1 million in the third quarter, or over four gross margin percentage points.
Growing market opportunityAs for the third quarter operating expenditure, Markforged reported $35 million, and it had roughly $182 million in cash/cash equivalents and no debt as of September 2022, which executives said is “on plan and well positioned to execute on our long term goals.”  Markforged helps companies through its Digital Forge. Image courtesy of Markforged.
Looking ahead, Markforged expects revenue for the fourth quarter to be between $28 million and $32 million, which, at the midpoint, would result in 2022 full-year revenue near the lower end of the range the company provided previously. For the full year, executives anticipated in the third quarter earnings conference call on November 9, 2022, that revenue would be between $99 million and $103 million. Overall, despite near-term macro headwinds, Terem assured analysts and investors that the long-term fundamentals remain unchanged. He highlighted that strong cost controls drove sequential operating leverage in Q3 and anticipated staying on track to profitability during the second half of 2024. Even more so, he suggested that the acquisition of metal binder jetting technology maker Digital Metal, which closed in the third quarter, would help expand Markforged’s addressable market into the mass production of end-use metal parts. This addressable market expansion couldn’t come at a better time, especially with demand building in automotive, luxury goods, medical, and metal injection molding (MIM) applications. The post 3D Printing Financials: Markforged’s Supply Chain Issues Wind Down FX20 Production appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/N7m8BLP November 29, 2022 at 10:12AM
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MIT 3D Printing Experiment Rides SpaceX’s Dragon to the ISS https://ift.tt/KJfxHv2 SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket Saturday, November 26, 2022, ferrying new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the crew at the International Space Station (ISS). Against the backdrop of the Artemis 1 launch, the new payloads traveling aboard SpaceX’s 26th commercial resupply mission (CRS) include an MIT Media Lab project that could help advance large-scale AM construction in space.  SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, with the Dragon spacecraft atop, soars into the sky from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Image courtesy of NASA.
Packed inside BlackBox 2, a remotely commanded commercial Space Station platform developed by in-space service provider Nanoracks to allow for multiple experiments to occur simultaneously, the AM investigation called Extrusion blasted into space with several other experiments from the MIT Media Lab that were sponsored by the ISS National Lab.  An inside view of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative Extrusion payload, shown in preparation for flight prior to sample loading. This technology demonstration tests new methods for rapid extrusion and UV curing of liquid resin shapes in microgravity. Image courtesy of the MIT Space Exploration Initiative.
Through the new AM investigation, researchers will demonstrate the extrusion of liquid resin into custom forms in the microgravity environment to create geometries that cannot be made on Earth. The payload architecture itself is comprised of three pumps that inject photocurable resin into pre-made flexible forms while a camera captures footage of the process.
 The silicone skins contain and shape the liquid extrusion process during the MIT Extrusion experiment in orbit. Image courtesy of Rapid Liquid Printing/MIT Media Lab.
An avid teacher of 3D printing at MIT, Ekblaw explains that in a microgravity environment, extrusions into free space that would typically sag can proceed unimpeded, allowing for the creation of structures that could not be produced in a gravity environment. On Earth, gravity deforms large objects, such as the beams used in large-scale construction. Traditional additive manufacturing processes, especially those that use liquid resin as the feedstock, are constrained by gravity. Instead, space’s weightlessness enables the fabrication of longer and thinner structures without this deformation. If successful, the Extrusion project could help lay the groundwork for additive manufacturing of more complex in-space structures, including space stations, solar power arrays, telescopes, and industrial equipment to support future space exploration.  An example of the silicone skins that will contain and shape the liquid extrusion process during the MIT Extrusion experiment in orbit. Image courtesy of Rapid Liquid Printing/MIT Media Lab.
Furthermore, considering that launching large structures in one piece is not feasible since they must be built to withstand much greater forces on Earth and during launch than they experience in space, these pieces could be created in orbit using Extrusion technology and shipped back for use on Earth. Prior to being launched to the ISS, the team led by Ekblaw tested the Extrusion payload on a parabolic flight in May 2021. Once on board the ZeroG aircraft, the team successfully demonstrated that the technology tested new methods for rapid extrusion and UV curing of liquid resin shapes in microgravity. The early version of the hardware for Extrusion used two feedstocks, a small-gauge flexible wire and a photocurable resin. It extruded them both through a nozzle assembly which simultaneously bent the wire into a 3D shape and coated it with an even layer of the resin. According to the original project excerpt, just after the nozzle, an array of UV LED emitters were positioned to cure the resin, both hardening it and bonding it to the wire. Once the entire shape was created, a cutting mechanism cleaved the coated wire just after the nozzle exit to allow for the creation of another shape.  Team members (from right to left) Che-Wei Wang, Aiden Padilla, Sean Auffinger, Martin Nisser, and Ariel Ekblaw pose with the experiment installed on the Zero-G aircraft. Image courtesy of Steve Boxall/ZERO-G.
Cutting-edge 3D printing experiments, like this one from MIT researchers, are routinely sent to the ISS for testing. In the last month, another resupply spacecraft – this one operated by Northrop Grumman – returned Techshot’s highly publicized bioprinting platform, better known as the BioFabrication Facility, to the microgravity laboratory with new capabilities to further human tissue printing research. While last February, Cornell University tested software that enables 3D printing on the space station. On the ground, the space agency is also supporting a myriad of additive manufacturing and bioprinting projects that will contribute to the growing space ecosystem, such as the “replicator” 3D printer, which aims to produce cartilage in space. Also supporting a range of microgravity and lunar research projects across science, engineering, art, and design, MIT Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative is on a mission to “build out the technologies of our sci-fi space future while keeping our innovations and team as open and accessible as possible.” This idea of democratizing access to space exploration will allow new disciplines and technologies (like AM) to deliver more experiences in space. Through this initiative, MIT researchers are creating and deploying space innovations that envision a bold and culturally rich “new space age,” from astro-bacteria wearables and open-access CubeSat constellations to musical instruments for space voyages, floating space habitats, and advanced zero-gravity 3D printing. The post MIT 3D Printing Experiment Rides SpaceX’s Dragon to the ISS appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/N7m8BLP November 29, 2022 at 08:11AM
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ICON Scores $57M from NASA for Moon 3D Printing https://ift.tt/ZFIderV It’s been quite the year for additive construction developer ICON. The Austin-based tech company’s seamless integration of advanced construction technologies into homebuilding spearheads faster and more accurate construction of complex or bespoke structures. Since ICON arrived in the 3D printing scene with the first permitted 3D printed home in the US during the SXSW event in March 2018, this engineering trend has evolved. Not only has ICON partnered with the Texas Military Department to build the largest 3D printed barracks in the country or teamed up with homebuilding giant Lennar to build a 100-home community in Texas, but it has even worked with NASA to design and construct a reusable landing pad that could be 3D printed with materials found on the Moon. This last collaboration may have resonated a lot lately, especially with the first Artemis launch bringing humanity one step closer to returning to the Moon. On the heels of this milestone, ICON has just announced a new contract that will target the first construction on another planetary body. ICON revealed on November 2022 it had won a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract worth $57.2 million to research and develop a lunar surface additive construction system.  Rendering of the lunar construction system. Image courtesy of ICON.
The new contract builds upon previous NASA and Department of Defense (DoD) funding for ICON’s Project Olympus, a multi-purpose construction system for off-world developments expected to leverage in-situ resources as building materials to further the efforts of NASA and commercial organizations to establish a sustained lunar presence.
Under the coveted third phase SBIR program, ICON, in partnership with NASA, will continue to pioneer methods and technologies to solve some of the most vexing construction challenges facing our species, from affordable housing to living on other planets. The company said that NASA’s award is a vote of confidence in a young, growing company and its mission to revolutionize the construction industry both on and off Earth. In support of NASA’s Artemis program, ICON plans to bring its advanced hardware and software into space via a lunar gravity simulation flight. The construction startup also intends to work with lunar regolith samples brought back from Apollo missions and various regolith simulants to determine their mechanical behavior in simulated lunar gravity. These findings will yield results that inform future lunar construction approaches for the broader space community, including critical infrastructures like landing pads, blast shields, and roads. This upcoming technology will help to establish the critical infrastructure necessary for a sustainable lunar economy, including, eventually, longer-term lunar habitation. According to Ballard, the final deliverable of this contract will be humanity’s first construction on another world. NASA has signaled that, through the Artemis program, the Moon will be the first off-Earth site for sustainable surface exploration, which is why building a sustainable presence on the Moon requires more than rockets.  Aerial rendering of the lunar construction system. Image courtesy of ICON.
Scientists have been exploring what it would take to live off-Earth for a long time, and conclusively, living on the Moon will not be easy. Before the first crew survives in one of the most hazardous spaces known to humankind, many challenges must be solved on Earth. While Apollo astronauts inhabited the Moon for only a few days, the highly anticipated crewed Artemis missions will last longer, which could severely affect human health. Not only will crews have to face the toxic moondust, but also radiation, low gravity, and a colder and longer lunar night than on Earth. Robust infrastructure will need to be built on the Moon to provide better thermal, radiation, and micrometeorite protection. For that to happen, ICON’s development plans follow a “live off the land” approach by prioritizing using native materials found on site called regolith.  Rendering of in-situ resource utilization lunar construction system and habitat. Image courtesy of ICON.
Discussing some critical issues about ICON’s upcoming technology, NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Director of Technology Maturation, Niki Werkheiser, believes that “to explore other worlds, we need innovative new technologies adapted to those environments and our exploration needs.” Furthermore, she believes that pushing this development forward with NASA’s commercial partners will create the capabilities needed for future missions. From landing pads to habitats, humans will require collective efforts to survive off-Earth. With companies like ICON on board and ready to support the space agency’s plans for exploring the Moon, Mars, and beyond, delivering the technologies that will build entire ecosystems in space feels more real than ever. Although today, NASA is heavily encouraging new ideas and innovations for space, ICON has proved itself already, having received a subcontract to deliver the world’s first and only simulated Mars surface 3D-printed habitat and helping create a lunar landing pad that has been tested on Earth. With so much going on at ICON, it is inevitable to imagine that this startup will continue to mature off-Earth applications for potential sustainable lunar missions and develop technology with shared agency benefits for Earth and space. The post ICON Scores $57M from NASA for Moon 3D Printing appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/F8Phdaw November 29, 2022 at 07:25AM
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Damien Giudice | Autumn Wonders https://ift.tt/aQgifqc Autumn Wonders is the latest lino print release from Luxembourg-based printmaker and graphic designer Damien Giudice. The 50×40 artwork features a creature in the middle of two oak branches. Damien tells us; “Of course it is a squirrel, but others think they recognise a rabbit. What it is is still up to the viewer”.
Autumn Wonders was printed using a hand press onto natural paper to compliment the design. Thus, except for the pre-drawing, Damien works completely analogue.
Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/FhYryEJ November 29, 2022 at 06:39AM
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3D Printing News Unpeeled: Warhammer, AVIC and Pearson Lloyd https://ift.tt/sibGD4R Today we look deeper in to Warhammer 40K and other table top games. Why is 3D printing being used for these games and why has it not spread? How come people haven’t created their own fantasy worlds with 3D printing? China’s AVIC brags about using 3D printing extensively in fighter aircraft. Person Lloyd and Bene make design objects using Material Extrusion with desktop 3D printers. The post 3D Printing News Unpeeled: Warhammer, AVIC and Pearson Lloyd appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/F8Phdaw November 28, 2022 at 10:01AM
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Fire at Icon’s House 3D Printing HQ Highlights Need for Decentralized Supply Chains https://ift.tt/lb52odm Early in the morning on Black Friday, a fire started in the St. Elmo warehouse district in South, Austin, Texas. Those buildings were in a mixed-use, 200,000 square foot area of the district called The Yard, which serves as home to a wide range of different businesses: including the headquarters to additive construction (AC) startup, ICON. Although there were no reported injuries, the Austin Fire Department (AFD) has said that at least two buildings so far are “a total loss.” AFD is still investigating the cause of the fire. 
Despite the severity of the blaze, representatives from the company anticipate that the incident will have little effect on ICON’s operations, which include the building of Wolf Ranch, a planned community of 100 homes that will be completed largely with AC techniques. In a tweet referencing the fire, posted later in the day on Friday (November 25), ICON’s co-founder and CEO, Jason Ballard, wrote, “Grateful no one was hurt. Thankfully the printer fleet is out in the field doing good work and teams were at home for the holiday.” ICON’s signature technology is the Vulcan concrete printer, which is optimized for use with the company’s Lavacrete cementitious material. ICON has been one of the main beneficiaries of the growing interest in the AC market segment over the last several years, with the company most notably collaborating with the US military on multiple projects. The success of that collaboration has resulted in ICON’s attracting significant financing from investors, such as homebuilding giant Lennar, which is also an ICON partner on the Wolf Ranch development. While the fire was no doubt tragic for the businesses involved, it is certainly fortunate that no one was injured. Moreover, for ICON, specifically, the outcome could potentially even be positive for the startup’s reputation. As the update tweeted by ICON’s CEO reflects, the decentralized nature of distributed manufacturing (and construction) operations inherently lends itself to resilience. This is a particularly dramatic example of that, but the same thing that will allow ICON to withstand an unforeseen calamity like a fire, underscores the potential for companies to decentralize their business activities to defend against far more routine supply chain disruptions. 
Additionally, to narrow the focus down to the AC space, the incident may have added a point to the pros column for on-site deployment of concrete printers, compared to prefabrication at a central site. The profit advantage of prefabricated homes is frequently touted as one of the strongest arguments in favor of using AC to address shortages in housing markets. At least in this case, however, ICON was clearly better off not having a warehouse full of prefabricated housing components. And, given that the technology is meant precisely to hedge against the risk of both man-made and natural disasters — like fires — this may reframe the narrative concerning the relative strengths/weaknesses of on-site construction and prefabrication. Regardless of the short-term profit motive, the trajectory of construction printing as both a technology and an industry may be best-served by making decentralization a strategic priority. Images courtesy of ICON The post Fire at Icon’s House 3D Printing HQ Highlights Need for Decentralized Supply Chains appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://ift.tt/F8Phdaw November 28, 2022 at 10:01AM
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USPS Operation Santa Now Open for Letter Adoption https://ift.tt/x5hIRN0 WASHINGTON — Are you in a position to give a child or family some extra magic this season? If so, you can now adopt a letter written to Santa at USPSOperationSanta.com. Printing via USPS News https://ift.tt/ISwUEoC November 28, 2022 at 09:04AM
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La Operación Santa de USPS ya está en marcha para el envío de cartas https://ift.tt/AaYZvou WASHINGTON — ¿Tiene la posibilidad de darle a un niño o a una familia un poco de magia extra esta temporada? De ser así, ahora puede adoptar una carta escrita a Santa en USPSOperationSanta.com. Printing via USPS News https://ift.tt/ISwUEoC November 28, 2022 at 09:04AM |
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The design started out as a drawing on a tablet which he then printed on lime paper. The whole thing was then transferred to the linoleum by hand with a pencil. Damien comments; “I love symmetry and cleanliness, it should not be too complicated. The only complicated part is the carving. What seems so simple takes hours to carve out so finely. Which is for me a very meditating part. Mistakes can happen, but they also happen in nature, so it doesn’t matter if one leaf looks slightly different from the other.”
The printmaker concludes; “The togetherness of human and nature is especially important to me. We are currently living in an unpleasant time, but you should still keep your eyes open for the small wonders we still have left on our beautiful planet.”
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