Latest USPS Report Shows Sustained Service Performance Improvements for First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, Periodicals https://ift.tt/3bxIa3X July 29, 2021 Latest USPS Report Shows Sustained Service Performance Improvements for First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, PeriodicalsMarketing Mail Reaches Highest Performance Level in Nearly 5 Years WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Postal Service reported fourth-quarter service delivery performance data through the first three weeks of July that showed sustained improvement across all First-Class, Marketing and Periodical mail categories from the third quarter ended June 30. Fourth-quarter service performance for July 1 through July 23 included:
Notably, for the week of July 17- 23, Marketing Mail reached the highest service performance level (93.7 percent) reported for that category in nearly five years, since the week of August 20-26, 2016 (93.9 percent). “We are working tirelessly across our network and with our industry partners to improve service performance for all mail and packages. The numbers are trending in the right direction – particularly for First-Class and Marketing Mail – but there is much more work to be done,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “We are steadfast in our commitment and focused on delivering the reliable and consistent service our industry customers and the American public expect and deserve.” The Postal Service’s recent service delivery improvements have been, in part, the result of a strategic shift to more ground deliveries, decreasing the agency’s reliance on the limited cargo capacities of third-party air carriers. Delivering for America, the Postal Service’s 10-year plan for financial sustainability and service excellence, seeks to meet or exceed its goal of 95 percent on-time service performance for all mail and shipping product delivery based on standards as all elements of the plan are implemented. The Postal Service is preparing for the higher delivery demands of the 2021 holiday peak season through increased hiring of delivery and plant personnel, the leasing of millions of additional square feet of sortation facilities, and the installation of new processing equipment to accommodate higher volumes and customers’ evolving mail and package delivery needs. Since April, the Postal Service has installed more than 36 of 112 new package sorting machines, reflecting infrastructure investments under the Delivering for America plan. Markets that have installed machines include Philadelphia (PA), Traverse City (MI), Teterboro (NJ), Huntsville (AL), and Eagan (MN). Installations are currently underway across the country, as the Postal Service plans to have new equipment running at 112 facilities by the 2021 peak holiday season. Additionally, the Postal Service is making a concerted effort nationwide to hire new employees ahead of the 2021 peak holiday season. Service performance is defined by the Postal Service from acceptance of a mailpiece into our system through delivery, measured against published service standards. The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations. ### Printing via USPS News https://ift.tt/2hH9aDC July 29, 2021 at 12:24PM
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Materialise 3D Prints 20,000 Bike Parts for High-End Brand https://ift.tt/3fb95n3 Executive Editor Joris Peels recently did a deep dive into the existing and possible role of 3D printing in the cycling industry. A disruption could be imminent, if industry players recognize the opportunity and leverage it in the appropriate way. One such entry point is through the use of 3D printing for high-end bikes, such as specialty consumer bicycles and racing bikes. Italian manufacturer Pinarello is now using Materialise (Nasdaq: MTLS) technology to optimize and manufacture a seat component with metal 3D printing at scale. Working with Materialise’s Metal Competence Center, the company was able to cut the weight of seat clamps for its new Dogma F racing bike by 42.5 percent.
Using a custom workflow, the Materialise team was able to manufacture the necessary number of parts in a short period of time. Specifically, the bike maker needed to make some 2,000 parts in less than a month on a monthly basis. Materialise developed a custom production setup that included labeling and quality inspection to tackle the goal. This included the use of the Materialise Process Tuner, a soon-to-be-released product that tailors product development to a given application. In turn, parameter setup is sped up, while mistakes are reduced and key data are stored in a central databased for projects down the road.
Maurizio Bellin, Chief of Operations at Pinarello, explained that 3D printing has opened up the possibility of offering performance bikes to a larger number of people:
Every little bit of weight savings can aid a racing cyclist, so naturally we’d see 3D printing come into play increasingly in this space. With a hefty $6,950 for the frameset alone, the Dogma F is geared toward high-end consumers, for whom cycling is more than just a hobby. However, by demonstrating the ability to manufacture 2,000 units on a monthly basis, Materialise is opening the door to an increasing number of lightweighted parts making it into more mainstream bikes in the future. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com July 29, 2021 at 09:03AM 3D Printed Air Ducts from Recycled Plastic Cut Energy and Material Footprint for Office Buildings7/29/2021
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3D Printed Air Ducts from Recycled Plastic Cut Energy and Material Footprint for Office Buildings https://ift.tt/3l9vhSg As devastating as the effects of COVID-19 were on the global economy, the economic slowdown resulted in a 6.4 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, the planet is still headed toward 3.2°C of warming. The United Nations has found that even 1.5°C will have irreversible, calamitous effects. This means that we will need to find innovative methods for replacing most aspects of our lives. This includes such overlooked building features as ducting systems and the materials from which they’re made. To address this one aspect of a building’s carbon footprint, architecture group BVN and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) set about creating a more efficient air ducts for HVAC systems. While the construction industry is responsible for 40 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions, 33 percent of an office building’s embodied emissions come from services. That can be further broken down to show that 15 percent of the total services footprint comes from redundancy and oversizing. Moreover, because of the materials used, metal ductwork in air conditioning systems makes up 22 percent of the embodied carbon emissions in a building’s services. To replace the steel of which duct systems are typically made, the team used recycled PET plastic waste, cutting the embodied emissions by 90 percent. Additionally, they found that most ducts are laid out in a convenient manner, sacrificing efficiency for what is possible to achieve with conventional manufacturing and installation techniques. This, in turn, resulted in poor airflow. For this reason, the team 3D printed an organically shaped structure to experiment with airflow in a 100m² portion of BVN’s 2000m² Sydney studio. An industrial robotic arm outfitted with a plastic extruder made it possible to build up organic shapes in midair, eliminating the need for support structures. The resulting Systems Reef 2 (SR2) replaces square corners with aerodynamic curves, as well as large vents with fine pores. Ducting cross sections were cut by 75 percent, while length was reduced by 33 percent and operating energy was dropped by 10 percent. All of the design work featured machine learning for the optimization of components. The team believes that, if SR2 were installed across the entirety of the studio, it would use 13.21 tonnes of plastic waste to supplant 54 tonnes of traditional ductwork, thus eliminating a megaton of embodied CO2. Due to standardized connections, seals, and fixings, they also think that labor for installation can be cut by 50 percent. This is just the beginning for the team, which believes it can apply a similar process to other use cases. Additives can easily be incorporated into the material production process in order to improve performance for specific tasks, such as flame retardants necessary for coding. At the moment, the granulation of recycled plastics takes place in a separate step from 3D printing, but, given past work that Joshua Pearce conducted with Michigan Tech students, one could imagine coupling those two processes for greater efficiency. It would also be interesting to see if energy efficiency could be improved even further in order to warrant the need to replace existing ducting systems because, as it stands, the embodied carbon footprint of the materials used would only be relevant for the production of new ducts. It would be more materially efficient to work with existing ducts than replace them entirely and 10 percent energy savings may not be enough for a government mandate or subsidy for retrofitting office buildings with 3D printed, plastic replacements. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com July 29, 2021 at 08:03AM
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Redefine Meat Launches 5 3D Printed Fake Meats in Israeli Restaurants https://ift.tt/3rEmucq Redefine Meat, the food brand that promised a 3D printed plant-based “beef” revolution in Israel, announced the commercial launch of its first-ever series of five “New-Meat” products in local restaurants and hotels. Following comprehensive testing and validation with leading chefs and consumers, the startup’s premium hamburger, sausage, lamb kabab, meaty puff pastry, and ground beef are now available in 11 select establishments. Later in 2021, Redefine will extend the rollout of its first product offering to Europe and in 2022 to the U.S. and Asia. The company also revealed that it will launch its first whole cut range later this year, following pilot-testing success. Although 2020 saw meat production decline for the second year in a row, livestock and meat market estimates still project continued growth in meat consumption, which is exactly the market Redefine is going for. A crucial part of the company’s growth is focused on attracting meat lovers. But to conquer this very solid market, Redefine is leveraging its initial 3D printed alternative meat formulation and working closely with global meat experts to 3D print a product that can compete with the real thing. Defined by their motto “New Meat. No Compromise,” company co-founders Eshchar Ben-Shitrit and Adam Lahav want to make the experience of eating “fake” meats equal to the real animal cuts. That includes incorporating the sizzling sound of meat on the grill, a mouth-watering smell, and the unmistakable texture of the real product. Since 2018, Redefine has worked with leading butchers, chefs, food technologists and even closely collaborated with taste expert Givaudan to digitally map more than 70 sensorial parameters into its alternative meats, including premium beef cuts’ texture, juiciness, fat distribution, and mouthfeel. Layer by layer, the company’s proprietary 3D printing technologies can create a new category of high-quality meat products made from plant-based ingredients. Having made huge strides in developing technology to replace the cuts in the entire cow, the company today brings to market its first product range. Packing 170 grams of New-Meat with bulky grain sizes, first up in the new line-up is the Redefine Burger. This high-quality steakhouse meat was developed with feedback from leading chefs and butchers in Europe. As far as taste goes, the company claims it’s extremely juicy, with a firm, meaty bite. Before its local commercialization, the burger was successfully tested by carnivores in an exclusive behind-the-scenes launch at Tel Aviv’s premium-quality meat distributor, Best Meister, which had never served alternative meat until then. Also available is the Redefine Ground Beef, an easy to cook New-Meat that adapts to several dishes, like finger food, empanadas, or Lebanese Kubba. Ideal for charcoal grill cooking, the meat addresses a major gap in the market, according to Redefine, providing the sufficient quality and cooking performance required by chefs as a culinary base for a wide variety of restaurant dishes. The brand states that it already has a wide list of early adopters in the Israeli market and a growing pre-order list in the US, Europe, and Asia for this product. Redefine’s adaptation of the traditional pork sausage is the meaty alternative Redefine Sausage. This Mediterranean-style New-Meat is defined as plump, juicy, and meaty with a refined spiciness and the coveted “snap” of a casing. 3D printed with natural plant-based ingredients, it is expected to offer both vegans and meat lovers great meat-eating experiences without compromising taste, health, and sustainability. For a more Middle Eastern taste, Redefine created the Redefine Cigar, a classic treat “New-Meat-filled pastry with a delectable crust” that cooks up flaky. Ideal for catering events, the beef-filled pastry was designed with the hospitality industry in mind, allowing for simple cooking in ultra-large quantities, and is the first in a range of products targeting this segment. Lastly, the company considered the Redefine Kabab the “most meat-like product” ever to be introduced in the past decade. Developed in stealth mode for over two years, it is described as an extremely juicy, minced meat designed to address the most common meat street food dish in cuisines that range from the Middle East to India. The signature product mixes lamb flavor with pine nuts and chopped parsley poised to satisfy vegans and meat lovers with an added cultural zest to any grilled shish kabab dish. Redefine will commercialize its new line of alternative meats at Tel Aviv restaurants Hudson, NAM, 2C, Bodega American Kitchen, and Asif Culinary Center, as well as Eddie’s Hideaway in Eilat, Sinta-Bar in Haifa, Guesta in Karmiel, Gouje and Daniel in Bnei Zion, and The Lounge restaurant at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem. Having recently secured $29 million in funding – the highest ever Series A round for an alternative meat company at that time –, Redefine has used the funds towards finalizing production of a first-of-its-kind large-scale factory housing both meat pilot-lines and Redefine’s industrial-scale 3D printers. The technology is destined to produce New-Meat at scale for the Israeli market and beyond. In addition, the unprecedented rapid growth led the company to triple its employees to more than 100 and hire renowned chefs such as Assaf Granit, whose Shabour restaurant in Paris recently received its first Michelin star. Redefine’s vision to replace the entire cow with tasty meat alternatives that could appeal to meat lovers is closer than ever to global commercialization. For Ben-Shitrit, launching the new product line in Israel represents a big step in a mission to become the “world’s largest meat company” and accelerates the brand’s innovation potential later in 2021. Each product combines the team’s knowledge of meat at the molecular level, extensive R&D and 3D printing technological innovation, and will help keep up with sustainable living in the future. As the alternative meat sector continues to advance the technologies needed to produce meatless products, we could witness a new 3D printed food revolution take off in the next decade. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com July 29, 2021 at 07:33AM
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SmarTech and Stifel Launch Online Event for 3D Printing Investment https://ift.tt/2WzmEq0 Ahead of RAPID 2021, SmarTech Analysis and Stifel Global Technology Group will be hosting an event dedicated to investment in the 3D printing industry. The half-day online summit, AM Investment Strategies, will take place September 9, 2021 and see lively discussions about the investment environment in public and private additive manufacturing (AM) markets. Attendees can register for free here. The event will feature two panels, in which CEOs and industry leaders will participate alongside experts from SmarTech and Stifel to examine the bustling market activity and project what the future of the industry looks like, relying on real market data. This includes the numerous SPAC mergers, equity offerings, mergers and acquisitions, and venture capital investments that have taken place. As discussed in a recent interview with Stifel, the investment banking firm has led nine of the most important digital manufacturing deals, representing $3 billion in value altogether. This included Fathom’s recent $1.5 billion merger with special purpose acquisition company Altimar Acquisition Corp, in which it served as Joint Placement Agent on the $80M PIPE associated with the deal. SmarTech, a sibling company of 3DPrint.com, is the leading firm dedicated to AM research, market data and consulting. It has worked with the majority of the leading original equipment manufacturers and numerous multinational industrial and financial firms. The event will feature the following speakers:
“We are thankful to Sifel for their support, and to all the companies and panelists for their participation. AM Investment Strategies brings together an unparalleled gathering of CEOs and leaders from the 3D printing industry. It’s a great opportunity to gain perspective and insight on 3D printing investment and we are proud to present it,” said Alan Meckler, CEO of 3DR Holdings, SmarTech’s parent company. “With record M&A and investment activity in 2021, now is a great time to take stock of where the market is today, learn from what worked and didn’t work historically, and be positioned for sustained growth and capital formation in the Digital Manufacturing market for many years to come. The AM Investment Strategies event brings together entrepreneurs, investors and investment bankers to discuss and debate this roadmap,” noted Bryan Down and Stephen Butkow, Managing Directors in Stifel’s Global Technology Investment Banking Group. “It’s been thrilling to watch the spectacular growth of the additive manufacturing industry in recent years. SmarTech Analysis has been there all along with data and research to guide executive decision making in the industry. Stifel has been there with the finance to make the industry grow. This first-of-a-kind event will point to how our organizations will bring even more success to the additive business in the future,” said Lawrence Gasman, President of SmarTech Analysis. Register for the event for free at aminvestmentstrategies.com. For more information, contact [email protected]. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com July 29, 2021 at 07:03AM
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No Comply Exhibition at Somerset House https://ift.tt/373Y0jk Beloved by everyone from punks to grebos, indie filmmakers, grungers, viral meme dog-celebrities, Avril Lavigne and a large percentage of suburban teenagers, skateboarding has had a hugely significant impact on culture. Film, music, fashion, photography and fine art all owe a fair bit to skateboarding, as is demonstrated in a new exhibition at Somerset House in London called No Comply. The free exhibition explores skateboarding and its impact on communities and culture over the past 45 years. According to the No Comply team, skateboarding thrived across the UK during lockdown, with the sport seeing its biggest increase in uptake since 2000. It says that up and down the country there are more than 750,000 skateboarders and 1,500 active stake parks, and adds that for the first time in history, skateboarding will feature in the Olympic Games. But despite its popularity, the story of the sport’s influence has remained largely untold; hence No Comply’s aim to “unpack the dynamic story of skateboarding in the UK” through three themes that define the subculture’s ethos: the city as playground, skateboarding communities and DIY culture. The show is curated by Tory Turk from an original idea by Frankie Shea, with insight from British skateboarder and Somerset House visitor experience manager Helena Long. Photographic imagery is a key part of the show, with works from some of the community’s biggest names including Wig Worland, Sam Ashley, Henry Kingsford, Jenna Selby and Norma Ibarra. There are also a number of newly commissioned original films that explore “the freedom of skateboarding and its community,” says Somerset House. The influence of skateboarding on fashion, and of skatewear on “skateboarding’s collective identity” is explored through archive objects and photography featuring brands including Palace Skateboards, Virgil Abloh and Louis Vuitton. Grassroots campaigns and non-profit initiatives that help to promote positive change through skateboarding are represented by case studies looking at the likes of SkatePal and Free Movement Skateboarding. Archival objects, photographs and anecdotes tell the stories of initiatives like Long Live Southbank, the artist- and community-led campaign signs the closure of the Undercroft of the Southbank Centre, probably the capital’s most prominent, visible skate site. Among the highlights of the DIY Culture section of the exhibition are a number of early editions of skate-based publications such as Alpine Sports, Read and Destroy (R.A.D) and Skateboard!, which has been attributed to helping connect skateboarders across the UK during the 1970s and 80s hanks to its mapping of skate-spots around the country. These mags are presented alongside more recent titles including Confusion Magazine, Over Ply Wood, Dogpiss, Blood Fever and Do I Look Like I Care. Fans of nostalgia and gaming will be pleased to know that visitors to No Comply will be able to see the first video game going players the chance to experience street skateboarding in a UK location in action: the 1999 Playstation Game Thrasher Presents Skate and Destroy has got a specially created display showing playback footage on an original monitor and console from its heyday. Elsewhere, Somerset House itself has been transformed for the exhibition (in a render, at least) into a “skateable site” thanks to urban spaces design studio Betongpark. The show has been developed by design agencies Studio LP and Interesting Projects, which also worked together on the Design Museum’s Sneakers Unboxed show. The exhibition runs from 19 July – 19 September 2021 Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/2DhgcW7 July 29, 2021 at 06:36AM
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Abigail Bromige-Smith https://ift.tt/3zELJy2 Abigail Bromige-Smith is an artist, designer, and maker, living and working in South East London. Her work exhibits a love for colour, shape, and pattern, taking inspiration from 1970s and Art Deco design. Her journey into the creative world started when she moved to London in 2013 to study Illustration at the University of the Arts. “I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do, but I couldn’t imagine a life doing anything but a creative job,” says Abigail. She continues; “I struggled at Uni; not only was the cost of living more than my part-time job could cover, but I didn’t feel like I had my own *style* in the way that others did on my course”. After graduating, needing to pay her rent Abigail got sucked into full-time work that she wasn’t passionate about. However, after losing her job in early 2020 her creative flame was reignited; “I was able to take a step back and think about what really excites me and why I moved to London in the first place”. She began working non-stop to build up her portfolio, and it wasn’t long before she started taking on commissions. Today, Abigail works full-time as a Graphic Designer and spends her mornings, evenings, and weekends working on her own creative venture. Abigail has always had a love for drawing and printmaking, but has more recently been experimenting with digital art and how it can be translated to other forms. An example of this is her recent collaboration with hat brand Camilla Ashley. Abigail worked with Camilla on a range of bucket hats using 4 unique prints she had designed. “I’m super proud of them and really enjoyed learning more about textiles and repeat patterns,” describes the print designer. Her designs usually begin by creating a library of shapes either digitally on Adobe Illustrator or on graph paper. For her recent Peckham project, Abigail explored the streets of Peckham and used her sketchbook to collect shapes, colours, and textures. She then used this collection of elements to create unique compositions, abstracting the area. The colours used in the project were even taken from some hanging string-vests she spotted on her venture.Abigail reminisces of first falling for shape and pattern at 6 years old, when her family moved into a big empty house in serious need of some TLC; “They stripped back the walls to uncover the ugliest 70s wallpaper you can imagine – but I loved it”. As a big fan of 70s rock, this subconscious influence is also evident in her work, as well as inspiration from artists including Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol, David Hicks, and Orla Kiely. “I think the end-goal for me is to be freelance. I know it won’t be an easy jump to make, but nothing good ever comes without risk,” concludes Abigail. Currently, she is working on a range of prints exploring typography, shape, and texture, and has only scratched the surface of what is possible. Keep an eye out for some more exciting collaborations in the pipe-line over the next few months! www.abibromiges.com Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/2DhgcW7 July 29, 2021 at 05:39AM
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3D Systems Sells Medical Simulation Business for $305M https://ift.tt/3l6mWir 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) announced the sale of its medical simulation business Simbionix to Surgical Science, a Swedish supplier of virtual reality simulators for medical training. The $305 million deal will complete 3D Systems’ initiative to divest non-core businesses to focus exclusively on 3D printing, developing capabilities exclusively for industrial-scale additive manufacturing. The proceeds from this sale, combined with previously announced divestitures, leave 3D Systems with no debt and a total cash balance of approximately $500 million, which the company can use to invest in more profitable parts of its business, such as its healthcare segment. Since Jeffrey Graves joined the company in April 2020 as new CEO, his strategy has incorporated the sale of all businesses acquired in the last few years that are no longer considered central to the main additive manufacturing operations and revenues. The move is expected to accelerate the adoption of AM solutions for applications in growing markets that demand high-reliability products, like healthcare, aerospace, and defense. Beginning with the divestiture of subtractive technology businesses Cimatron and GibbsCAM in November 2020, 3D Systems’ plans to refocus its core mission also resulted in the major sale of its On Demand manufacturing services for $82 million. According to Graves, these divestitures strengthened the balance sheet, enabling the company to pay off its debt and terminate much earlier than originally planned the at-the-market equity (ATM) program, which allowed the company to issue up to a total of $150 million of shares of common stock to the public from time to time. Through this transaction, Simbionix will be integrated with Surgical Science to form a market-leading company to simulate medical procedures, including advanced robotic surgery. Under the leadership of Ran Bronstein, the company has secured a strong position in the medical simulation, training, and robotic surgery market and had reported sales of $40.8 million in 2020. Once the transaction is completed in August 2021, Simbionix is expected to complement and strengthen Surgical Science’s position with a broad portfolio of simulators in general surgery, endovascular procedures, endoscopy, urology, orthopedics, ultrasound, and robotic surgery. Simbionix also brings long-established collaborations with leading medical technology companies and academic institutions at the forefront of developing new robotic surgery technology and operating procedures. Graves said that Simbionix will be the final asset divested under his reorganization and restructuring initiative, with priorities now targeting growth and margin expansion. “As the Simbionix team now joins forces with Surgical Science, I believe their future will be even brighter, with increased scale and an ability to leverage the core strengths of both businesses in a growing medical simulation market,” described Graves. Early in 2021, 3D Systems announced initial investments to bolster its standing in the bioprinting market with the acquisition of Allevi and Additive Works to build its bioprinting and software portfolios, respectively. It has also announced planned expansions of its facilities in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and Littleton, Colorado, to address rising customer demand for additive manufacturing technologies. Additionally, the company expanded its technology leadership team by welcoming Dr. David Leigh as its new Chief Technology Officer for Additive Manufacturing to expand and accelerate application development and product innovation, including all hardware, software, and materials development for production-scale additive manufacturing solutions. Leigh’s arrival has enabled 3D Systems’ co-founder, Chuck Hull, to increase his emphasis on biotechnology, leading the development of solutions that are creating exciting new opportunities in regenerative medicine. Something Hull is looking forward to.
After the company announced the sale of Simbionix on July 28, 2021, and the end of its divestment initiative, 3D Systems stock saw an uptick of 5.3%. According to multimedia financial services The Motley Fool, 3D Systems stock is leading the pack so far in 2021 (along with ExOne), up 275%. With the company’s second-quarter earnings results now slated to be released in August, investors will surely be eager to know Graves’s expectations about the company’s performance for the rest of the year. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com July 28, 2021 at 03:03PM
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3D Printed Microneedles Make for Less Painful Continuous Glucose Monitoring https://ift.tt/2UYj1t5 Around the globe, 422 million people have diabetes, which means many of them need to monitor their daily glucose levels by pricking their finger to test the blood. I can’t imagine this is all that fun, and I can’t believe that there doesn’t seem to be a better solution. But the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) is working with In-Vision and DIRECTSENS to try and make the process more comfortable by using a novel 3D printed microneedle solution for glucose monitoring. Together, the three organizations have launched the NUMBAT research project, funded by the Austrian Ministry for Climate Change through the Research Promotion Agency FFG and with a mission to develop a proof of concept printer that uses high-resolution DLP 3D printing to create a polymeric microneedle array for less painful and invasive continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The NUMBAT team knew that in order to deliver, they would need microneedles, metallization to define electrodes for electrochemical measurements, and a biofunctionalization layer: a surface modification that ensures glucose detection with direct electron transfer to the electrode. These components are put on a flexible foil that can be applied to a person’s skin and provide real-time glucose level monitoring just below the surface of the skin, without reaching blood vessels or nerves—making the CGM process more comfortable. They could use a conventional metallization process, but novel solutions would be needed for the microneedles and biofunctionalization layer. In order to generate a signal when glucose is detected in a blood sample, traditional finger-prick glucometers, like the one above, use glucose oxidase, and the electronic signal is then delivered to the electrode through partially toxic mediators, which is generally not an option for less invasive monitoring. That’s why biosensor company DIRECTSENS is a part of the project: its technology can enable a safer direct electron transfer enzyme biofunctionalization, so the team can lower the necessary voltage to operate the biosensors, which in turn allows for a longer life and reduces interferences. Conventional technology wouldn’t cut it for printing extremely small microneedles, specifically 500 micron (0.5 mm) high ones with a 2-micron wide tip. Micro-injection molding isn’t flexible or inexpensive enough to customize the microneedle layout multiple times for experiments, and TPP 3D printing is also pretty costly, as well as very slow. Instead, the team went with DLP-based microstereolithography for its flexibility, speed, and accuracy in both experimentation and substrate materials. Here’s where In-Vision comes in, as the Austrian startup, known for its industrial light engines, offered up its Firebird UV DLP Projector, which features a custom lens design, 2560 x 1600 micron native resolution, and a 2-micron pixel-pitch.
In-Vision’s Firebird projector was able to achieve the necessary customization and precision that NUMBAT needed, and the startup also helped AIT build the printer and program the software as well.
If the proof of concept ends up being successful, it could pave the way to developing personalized microneedle arrays, and other applications like hollow needles for intradermal drug delivery. As NUMBAT has reached Technology Readiness Level 4, and the team prepares to demonstrate how capable its solution is at the biosensor level, they’re also getting ready to continue exploring the 3D printing process they created together.
(Source/Images: In-Vision) Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com July 28, 2021 at 09:06AM
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Evolve Additive Sells First Commercial STEP 3D Printing System https://ift.tt/2ViCLrr Evolve Additive‘s high resolution and smooth parts blew me away when I first saw them in 2018. The company later took investment from LEGO and Stanley Black & Decker. They also deployed alpha systems in a few locations and Stanley kicked in more money. Their CEO Steve Chillscyzn was always clear that the company was targeting injection molding, but it’s a tough challenge to go from an alpha machine to something that someone will buy. Now, the company has achieved that step. Evolve’s Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP, previously referred to as Selective Toner Electrophotographic Process) was incubated at Stratasys for years before spinning out in 2018. STEP “uses a laser printer engine to image a layer onto the surface of a drum, this imaged layer with positive and negative charges is rolled near 22-micron toner particles with the opposite charge, electrostatic force transfers the toner onto the charged areas. The image and toner is then rolled onto another roller and then onto a carrying belt. STEP places a voxel at a specific place in a layer, and can even place multiple voxels of materials at specific points.” The first STEP machine, called the SVP (short for Scalable Volume Production), was sold and installed at an undisclosed customer’s facility. Is it Stanley or LEGO or maybe German service bureau FIT, whose CEO Carl Fruth has a penchant for buying everyone’s first machine? We don’t know. Who do you think it is? The company doesn’t even disclose the industry, but does say that it will be used in manufacturing, including for multi-colored parts and a wide range of materials. This does possibly point to a service bureau using it for a wide variety of different applications. Evolve claims better time-to-market and cost savings as well as flexibility as advantages. Quote request Are you looking to buy a 3D printer or 3D scanner? We're here to help. Get free expert advice and quotes from trusted suppliers in your area. Powered by Aniwaa
Evolve’s toner-based process is very rapid, but, up and until now, was a bit height-challenged in the parts that could be produced. However, components were very smooth and had a very high level of detail. They look oh-so-sharp, too. That coupled with high throughput and a system built for millions of components has always made this a very promising technology. And this is not fused deposition or stereolithography. This is a completely new technology stack that they’ve commercialized. This is a remarkable achievement. I’d love to see more super creative repurposing projects make use of other high-speed industrial technologies and turn them into 3D printing processes. STEP lets you use colored ABS and PA. It lets you mix colors and even materials in the same build. One could imagine unique properties, also. I also love the industries that they are targeting. No fancy aerospace stuff here. Evolves interested industries are beautifully mundane and humdrum, including housings, heat protection, building accessories, document handling, water treatment, filtration, as well as body protection, and lawn and garden. Lawn and garden. Is that an application area on your radar? Not at all, I’m guessing. You probably have never thought about calling up Gardena or have been thinking of parts for Stanley’s lawn mowers. But it is spectacular that we can do such mundane and new things. I’d love for new firms to open up our market to many more specific applications in many more industries. To the garden and beyond. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com July 28, 2021 at 08:36AM |
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