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3D Printed Bone Scaffolds Could Heal Devastating Injuries https://ift.tt/2DL1F8e Dr. John A. Svizek, a scientist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, has received a five-year, $2 million grant from the United States Department of Defense to launch a study focusing on how to heal broken bones with a combination of adult stem cells and 3D printing. Dr. Svizek, a biomedical engineer and professor of orthopedic surgery, hopes that the study will result in the ability to fix even the most devastating fractures.
Dr. Svizek’s lab, with the help of clinical partners in the UA Department of Orthopedic Surgery, plans to 3D print plastic scaffolds that can replace large segments of missing or shattered bone. The scaffolds will be filled with adult stem cells and calcium particles, which lead to faster healing and bone growth. Pilot studies in Dr. Svizek’s lab have been promising.
Dr. Svizek’s team will explore the idea that exercise early in the recovery process can speed healing.
The 3D printed bone scaffolds will be implanted with tiny sensors that can wirelessly transmit data on activity. They will analyze how much weight is being put on the scaffold and for how much time. Bone size changes in a group that regularly exercises will be compared with an inactive group. Dr. Svizek and his team theorize that the active group will show faster bone growth, and he hopes to develop guidelines for post-surgical physical therapy by showing that exercise helps with better bone formation. Current treatment of severe bone injuries typically fails and requires repeated surgeries.
The human body will attempt to regrow bone for a few months after an injury, but then it gives up and the missing bone is replaced with scar tissue.
He anticipates that if the study is successful, clinical trials will take place in military personnel. He also hopes that the technique can be used to help patients with bone cancer.
Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. [Source/Images: University of Arizona]
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 27, 2018 at 11:57AM
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Youbionic Combines 3D Printed Bionic Arms with SpotMini the Nightmare Robotic Dog by Boston Dynamics11/27/2018
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Youbionic Combines 3D Printed Bionic Arms with SpotMini the Nightmare Robotic Dog by Boston Dynamics https://ift.tt/2zuolGZ Ever since 2014, Italy-based Youbionic, which was founded by Federico Ciccarese and specializes in robotics and bionics, has been working on its 3D printed, robot-controlled, bionic prosthetic hand. The company started taking pre-orders for the bionic prosthetic two years ago, and has since been making improvements and updates to the original model, even coming out with a 3D printed double hand device for the augmented human. Now, Youbionic has released its latest bionic product – the Youbionic One.
The company is reinventing what robotics can do with the unique Youbionic One assistant device. Users can learn to program the Youbionic One so it can perform tasks to make their lives easier, either through remote control or independently. You can purchase the STL files for 3D printing your own Youbionic One for $179 on the company’s website. If you want, you can even modify and customize the device before 3D printing so it better fits your lifestyle – edit its functionality, change its size, whatever you need.
To provide an example of the kind of customization that can be achieved with the 3D printable device, or perhaps to give us all nightmares for the rest of our lives, Youbionic partnered with advanced robotics company Boston Dynamics to modify the Youbionic One…by combining it with the SpotMini robot dog.
The four-legged, all-electric SpotMini robot is the ideal quadruped for the digital age, complete with a 3D vision system and the ability to go for roughly 90 minutes on a charge, depending on its specific activity. The 25 kg robot has 17 joints, can support a 14 kg payload, and is Boston Dynamics’ quietest robot yet. Capable of climbing stairs, handling objects, and doing its owner’s bidding, the SpotMini would work well in a home, office, or even outdoors. Boston Dynamics has given the SpotMini all of the mobility from its big brother robot dog Spot, which we saw in last year’s immersive virtual reality documentary miniseries by GE, called The Possible. But it also has new features, like a fancy perception sensor suite featuring depth and stereo cameras to help with mobile manipulation and navigation. All by itself, the SpotMini doesn’t look too frightening…as long it doesn’t start running directly at you. But combine it with the striking Youbionic One, and you’ve got a personal assistant device that’s basically a technologically advanced hellhound. Obviously, the Youbionic One/SpotMini Centaur Mechanic hybrid could be very useful for someone who needs help with tasks that require basic motor skills, like getting the mail or pouring a glass of water. But, just to be on the safe side, you’d better make sure this bionic beastie is turned off when you go to sleep at night. VIDEO What do you think? Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 27, 2018 at 02:06AM
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EOS and Etihad Airways Engineering Partner to Expand 3D Printed Aviation Applications https://ift.tt/2AzV1yz The United Arab Emirates’ Etihad Airways has long been serious about incorporating 3D printing into its airplanes, particularly cabin components. Now Etihad Airways Engineering, the largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provided in the Middle East, has partnered with 3D printer manufacturer EOS to expand local capabilities for 3D printing in the aviation field. The initial phase of the collaboration will use EOS technology and involve the qualification of machines, processes and materials in accordance with aviation regulatory requirements.
Once the initial steps have been completed, Etihad Airways Engineering will certify the additive manufacturing process and further develop additive manufacturing capabilities based on the technology. Along with EOS, the company will also work to develop, test and qualify new polymer materials. Over the long term, Etihad plans to roll out 3D printing among its customers and within its broader ecosystem.
The partnership will enable Etihad Airways Engineering to produce 3D printed aircraft parts at its facility in Abu Dhabi. After a structured selection process, cabin interior parts will be 3D printed, which offers a number of benefits. 3D printing allows for lightweight design, and when it comes to airplanes, the more lightweight components can be included, the better. Any reduction in weight allows for better fuel efficiency, saving money as well as having a positive impact on the environment. 3D printing also enables shorter lead times as well as the opportunity for customization. As 3D printing becomes more and more common in the aerospace industry, many people think more of high-strength metal components being used in engines, for example, and less about the inside of the cabin itself. But the interior cabin of the airplane is just as full of opportunities for using 3D printing, if not more so, and Etihad has seized on those opportunities in particular. When it comes to making an aircraft more lightweight, or saving money and time, no part is too small to revamp using 3D printing. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 26, 2018 at 10:57PM
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Researchers Create Algorithm for Shifting the Center of Gravity in 3D Printed Objects https://ift.tt/2E0LViv In an article entitled “Tuning the Center of Gravity of 3D Printed Artifacts,” a pair of researchers discusses how they came up with an Algorithms-Aided Design (AAD) approach to shifting the center of gravity of 3D printed objects to a desired location.
The researchers’ method does not require an STL file, as they used a query-based approach in which the built-in algorithm communicates with CAD software to acquire the necessary information about the design. First, the designed object in CAD software is decomposed into voxels of predefined sizes with AAD add-on software. Then the desired center of gravity and the amount of extra material available are entered by the user. This additional material is distributed to the voxels by the algorithm so that the center of gravity of the final object is at the predefined location.
Why do this? Shifting the center of gravity can create a more stable object, according to the researchers, without altering any of the visible physical characteristics of the object. They point out that several other methods have been used to do this, including using Voronoi cells to create a heterogeneous interior. The researchers took this concept and added more mass to increase the effect of the Voronoi cells. The main objective of the algorithm the researchers developed is to create a secondary shape inside the input geometry so that the overall center of gravity of the 3D printed object is in the desired position. The algorithm is divided into several steps. First, voxelization of the initial geometry needs to be done to create a base structure to hold the additional mass to be placed inside the initial geometry. The mass and the center of gravity of the voxelized geometry are then calculated.
To test the process, the researchers 3D printed a low-poly bunny that could sit on various surfaces once the center of gravity was adjusted. The target center of gravity was set so that it could stand on its tail. This was successful, though there were some defects on the surface of the print due to the lack of support structures for overhanging areas. The researchers admit that their technique needs some modification, but that in the future it will likely “have a major impact on industries that seek for an out of the box solution with the help of using original designs.” Authors of the study include Mert Keles and Ulas Yaman. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 26, 2018 at 02:42PM
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Results of Daimler and BMW AutoAdd Project Show that 3D Printing for Mass Production in Automotive Industry is Possible https://ift.tt/2r8IMUZ Within the framework of the “ Photonic Process Chains” funding initiative by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research ( BMBF), several partners – two research institutes and five companies, to be exact – are focusing on 3D printing in the automotive industry. The “Integration of Additive Manufacturing Processes in Automobile Series Production – AutoAdd” research project is coordinated by Daimler AG, and its findings show that by holistically integrating the metallic laser powder bed fusion process (LPBF), also known as SLM and DMLS, developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT)into automotive series production, unit costs can go way down. The BMBF has been working on several projects in order to promote the intelligent linking of photon-based manufacturing processes, like metal 3D printing, as a means to produce complex or individualized products. Its aim is to create flexible, conceptual hybrid manufacturing designs, which can then be used for production purposes. But, out of all 14 joint projects in the funding initiative, which began in 2015 and ended in May, AutoAdd should make it easier to use 3D printing in the automotive industry within just three years. In addition to Fraunhofer ILT and Daimler, the AutoAdd project partners include:
These partners are working to lower unit costs by integrating the LPBF process chain into the automotive mass production environment, in order to develop a new hybrid process chain. Daimler and the BMW Group worked together to define the necessary requirements for the new additive process chain, and then Fraunhofer ILT and TRUMPF used the chain to create a variety of plant and finishing conceptual designs for 3D printing. In addition to a modular system architecture that allows for the use of an “interchangeable cylinder principle” and multiple beam sources, potentially production-ready optical designs were created. The AutoAdd partners also analyzed GKN’s novel scalable materials, as well as created some promising post-processing concepts that could be automated, such as support structure removal. KIT was the partner which ended up evaluating these new factory designs.
There were several positive effects stemming from the €3.37 million project, at least in terms of academics. There was enough useful content from AutoAdd to fuel four separate dissertations, and this knowledge can also be used for lectures in the future. Next year, a new project, partially based on the AutoAdd results, will launch that’s focused on line-integration of 3D printing to “implement the designed additive process chain.” The joint project results are interesting and impressive, showing that it is indeed possible to achieve additive mass manufacturing. For instance, the whole process chain can be automated, making it more efficient and cost-effective, as the team discovered that modular cylinders and wet-chemical immersion baths are effective ways to remove, batchwise, components during post-processing. In addition, common metrics for evaluating LPBF manufacturing equipment were developed by the AutoAdd project partners, which can be used to identify popular equipment manufacturers for a large-scale benchmarking exercise.
One of the most, if not the most, important points the AutoAdd team needed in order to make 3D printing ready for series production was the ability to reproduce mechanical properties. The partners took an important fundamental step by demonstrating and evaluating this feature in multiple facilities – showing that it is possible to integrate an economic additive process chain in automotive mass production. Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 26, 2018 at 02:03PM Jet-Eat Uses 3D Printing to Create a Tasty Meat Alternative https://ift.tt/2DJfa8u Over the long Thanksgiving weekend, an alarming report was released by the United States government about the horrific effects climate change will have on the country. The fact that climate change is going to cause major problems is not new news, but this report was more dire than ever, warning of the deaths of thousands in the US alone as well as devastating impacts to the economy – and that those effects will happen sooner than most people think. While the report focused on the United States, the entire world is at risk, and the entire world needs to immediately begin making significant changes in order to head off the worst of the damage. While there are several actions that can be taken, including the pursuit of more alternative energy sources, many scientists have argued that humans’ extensive consumption of meat is partly to blame. Livestock production is responsible for a significant percentage of harmful emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane – not to mention the huge swathes of land that are being deforested in order to make room for the cultivation of livestock. It’s easy to suggest that everyone stop eating meat, but many are reluctant to do so, concerned over a loss of dietary protein as well as the fact that meat simply tastes great. While plenty of meat alternatives exist, a veggie burger simply doesn’t taste the same as a real beef patty. But a few companies are trying harder to genuinely reproduce the flavor of meat in vegetarian substitutes, and one of those companies is Jet-Eat, an Israeli startup that is using 3D printing to create plant-based foods with the flavor and texture of meat.
Jet-Eat was founded at the beginning of 2018 and currently has five employees. It has raised money from angel investors and is now working on a seed round investment, with the goal of having its product on the market by 2020. Earlier this year, the company participated in a four-month accelerator program launched by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Food Accelerator Network in Israel at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. It was then selected as a finalist to compete at the EIT Food Venture Summit. The winner, which will win $68,000, will be announced this week. Jet-Eat works closely with the Technion and is using its labs to test the 3D printed “meat” for texture, flavor and consistency. Researchers in Spain are also working on 3D printed meat alternatives, while other organizations have discussed the possibility of using 3D bioprinting to create actual meat in a lab, without the need for livestock cultivation. These are the advanced applications of 3D printed food, taking it beyond novelty status and into real solutions for feeding people. 3D printed food won’t singlehandedly halt climate change, but it could have a place as part of a multifaceted approach toward addressing the crisis. The world’s population is growing steadily, and more food needs to come from somewhere – particularly from sources that won’t further damage the planet. The entire world won’t ever be convinced to go vegan, but making vegetables taste like meat is one way to potentially make a dent in our ravenous meat consumption. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. [Source: NoCamels/Images: Jet-Eat]
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 26, 2018 at 11:39AM
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Wipro 3D and its plans in the 3D Printing Market Interview with VP Ajay Parikh https://ift.tt/2Bzxe3j Wipro is an $8 billion 164,000 employee Indian technology company. The company runs large outsourcing and technology implementation projects, and is one of the world’s largest IT firms. May may be surprised that Wirpro has a 3D printing arm. Moreover, Wipro 3D was set up in 2012. Wipro 3D has grown to be a metal 3D printing service provider that also offers 3D printing consulting, 3D printing engineering services, research services. The company is aiming to be a full spectrum player for 3D printing offering everything from sketch to the setting up of complete 3D printing service centers. We were very curious to see what Wipro 3D was up to and spoke to Ajay Parikh the VP and Business Head, Wipro 3D to find out more about the company’s plans. Why is Wipro active in 3D Printing?
Is adoption on the rise?
How do your consultants work with customers to help them get into 3D printing?
Are you primarily focused on metal printing?
How do you work with customers in a design and engineering capacity?
You also have 3D printing capacity in-house? In which technologies?
Do you focus on a particular market, vertical or application at all? “Aerospace, Space, Defence, Energy, Automotive and specific applications in Healthcare are some of the sectors that we currently serve with a domain led focus.” What are some examples of 3D printed parts that really add value?
In which industries do you see 3D printing becoming strong in the immediate future? “As you know, Aerospace, Space, Defence and Healthcare are at the forefront of AM adoption We feel major growth in usage of AM will also come from Automotive, Oil & Gas, and Industrial sectors employing different variants of metal AM technologies.” Do you think that clusters of desktop systems will compete with industrial systems in manufacturing? “Both systems have unique and mutually exclusive use cases and as such we see them coexisting.” Do you think that one particular technology will win out over others? All 3D printing technologies will co-exist with each other given the variety of applications, engineering needs and service conditions across industries. What is Wipro’s ambition in 3D printing? “We aim to be among the leading global full suite players in metal and advanced materials additive manufacturing solutions.” What would be your top tips to a large company wanting to explore 3D printing? What are some of the roadblocks for manufacturers when switching to 3D printing? “It is critical to find the right applications within the enterprise and identify the right type of additive manufacturing technology to create proper use and business cases. Enterprises need to work with the right Additive Manufacturing solution provider, which whom the enterprise can co-create and execute a long term adaption roadmap A systematic adaption roadmap is key. A good AM solution provider can make a big difference. Another aspect is executive sponsorship. If this is not on the board’s agenda, there is pretty good chance it’s going to be limited to prototyping. Moreover, you need high resilience. When it comes to enterprise adaption, certainly Return on Capital Employed, Utilization, Service life, comparison to conventionally manufactured components in terms of mechanical properties are top of the mind considerations. As in any case, early adopters face a steep learning curve, but one which is to come in handy, as the technology matures and use cases grow. Start now, with a strong business outcome objective, ideally working with a strategic solutions partner. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 26, 2018 at 10:30AM Students Learn Digital Manufacturing Through Design and 3D Printing of Turbine Blades https://ift.tt/2FImGmA In a paper entitled “Application of Additive Manufacturing in Design & Manufacturing Engineering Education,” a pair of researchers from University College Dublin detail how they implemented a program on digital manufacturing and materials processing using 3D printing in an undergraduate engineering course. The students used 3D printing technology to fabricate a turbocharger turbine part. Three research questions were presented:
The study involved a class of 90 undergraduate engineering students. Introductory lectures were given on topics such as digital manufacturing, additive and subtractive manufacturing, and 3D design and printing processes. The students were given background information along with examples of publications on turbine design, then were divided into groups of three and given periods between four and seven weeks to design and test turbocharger blades.
The students were given a lot of freedom, as no prescribed methodologies or solutions on turbine design were provided. The project was designed to be carried out for low cost; two 3D printers were used, one of them a Zmorph. The material used was PLA. Cura slicing software was used, along with Autodesk Inventor Professional for design. Four major components were included in the turbine design: the turbine itself, the housing, the turbine shaft and the mounting unit. The students had to consider the following parameters: blade radius, blade angle, blade thickness, and number of blades. The 3D printing itself had to be completed within a 40 minute period, and the turbine performance and characterization had to be completed within an hour and a half prototyping lab. Each student group had to determine what printing settings to use. Once the part was completed, the turbine speed, dimensions, and layer morphology were evaluated, followed by a feedback session. A student survey was carried out to evaluate the students’ prior knowledge in 3D printing as well as the level of interest and value in the course. All of the students had some prior knowledge of 3D design, but limited experience in 3D printing. The researchers conclude that in the future, it may be useful to offer different levels of challenge to the students based on their prior experience. Overall, the course was highly successful, with the students reporting largely positive and enthusiastic feedback. The researchers state that the course could have benefited from more than one prototyping session, which may be included in a future course. The benefits of digital manufacturing and 3D printing were clearly shown, however.
Authors of the paper include Dr. Shane G. Keaveney and Professor Denis P. Dowling. Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 26, 2018 at 10:06AM At Every Unique Voxel a Unique Design and Material Best Suited for That Point and Application.11/25/2018
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At Every Unique Voxel a Unique Design and Material Best Suited for That Point and Application. https://ift.tt/2FFwnCi A voxel is a 3D pixel. A unit of 3D dimensional space, a voxel can be a virtually demarcated space in a 3D file or it could be somewhere on a physical object. Voxels can be assigned values relating to the single point that they represent. You could describe a voxel’s density, color, conductivity etc. all as related to that single point that you identify. That one point is then located precisely. Voxel as a concept is easy enough to understand, but it is underutilized in 3D printing at the moment. Voxels let us imagine a world where everything is made up of discrete Lego blocks that we can identify and assign properties to. If we’re thinking of a programmable physical world then this as a concept is very exciting. Instead of the world being a pancake mix where a material might be malleable and changeable when you make it, the world is definable at every single point. Materials are not just a sludge that we pour out, to harden and become things. Materials can be defined not only on aggregate but with individual characteristics at every single location. VIDEO If we’re talking about gradient materials where we can change the density of a 3D printed part as well as its flexibility and hardness we can see that as an industry we are already looking at this space. Functionally graded (or gradient) materials are emerging. Stratasys Objet printers are already able to look at the voxel and what characteristics it may have. Envisiontec already looks at how it can harden a particular voxel of a resin bath. As a design idea, its also represented well by all of the pixel art type of stuff that cool folks put out. If we look at the papers of Jon Hiller and Hod Lipson however from years ago then we’re still a bit behind. Papers about 3D printing self-aligning parallel voxel manipulation and tunable material properties for 3D voxel printers are still not commercialized. Their continuation of a concept by Gershenfeld (I’m sure of it but I can’t find it anywhere online) is still fresh to most of us. Their ideas and research into cellular machines go much further still and imagine billions of micron-sized building blocks being assembled into parts.Even though initial voxelfab machines have been created the thinking to continue this in the industry is simply not there. I’ve been enamored with the voxelfab idea for a long time now. Indeed that’s why my consultancy and blog are called Voxelfab. The idea of being able to program, select and assign properties to every little Lego block you used to build something still blow my mind. How idiotic is our current way of building and making things? I take a block that has the characteristics I want and cut out the shape I need. Or I take a material and slather it on a layer by layer. It’s just silly. So imprecise and limiting. There are encouraging signs though that the age of the voxel will emerge. But, rather than making the voxels first, in an efficient lithographic process for example and then assembling them in a “select, assign, scoop, deposit” process to a point in a part it is microstructure control that comes the closest now to looking at the voxel. The metal 3D printing people have found that by changing the variables of their process they can control individual microstructures which can then give their parts different properties. The melt pool, melt pool velocity, feed rates, temperatures, spot size and all of the variables inside the melt pool are being looked at. Companies such as Digital Alloys talk about being able to determine where each voxel is to determine final part properties. A big trend in papers is in microstructure control of metal printing. Gold nanostrctures are being 3D printed, looking at nano sized structures through the nanoscribe and other machines, we’re looking at how build orientation influences microstructure, seeing colonies of cells in metal prints, EOS’s to be released LaserProFusion technology points a million lasers at discrete points in a build to harden that one point. One could see LaserProFusion being used to create different characteristics of voxels at each point. By taking the pancake batter and pouring power into it the metals people are trying hard to make voxels out of the soup and gloop that our world is made out of. Whilst OEMs and researchers are thinking of this it is designers who are really lagging. Let’s take a great example: Steve Wood’s variable density insoles. In these, we can take unique pressure pad and scan data to vary the infill in an FDM (material extrusion, FFF if you’re a tool) print. This infill itself is a pattern such as a hexagon. This means that in these insoles we’re creating a unique material just for one of your feet and your walking mechanics/issues. This is an exciting and totally doable thing that will in and of itself change footwear forever. But, what if we went a step further still and were able to consider FDM infill, not as a (often randomly chosen) pattern but a true 3D pattern that we can change at every point? What if we vary this pattern and the infill all throughout the build? What if we control the voxel that hardens out of our nozzle as well? Much more directly by cooling or heating it directly? What if in FDM we can at the single point control exactly what we are building? What if in addition to the temperature we can also precisely control for the shape of the voxel being deposited as it is deposited and then also vary the pattern in which it is deposited. Cray cray idea right? But, that would let us do the same. This would let us create a single material at every single point in a print. Every point would be ideally suited to its purpose. Everything would be a unique material best made for what it should be. This explains my obsession with the idea of “crystallization on the fly” in polymers. What if we could go from building an object one layer at a time to building an object one voxel at a time? This would let us completely change how things are made. To me voxelfab is still the complete dream outcome of what we should be able to do and a decade in the darkness I can see outlines of it emerging. At Every Unique Voxel a Unique Design and Material Best Suited for That Point and Application. Will you take up the torch? Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 25, 2018 at 04:18AM
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Interview With 3D Printing Pioneer Janne Kyttanen https://ift.tt/2raYgIt We had a chance to catch up with 3D pioneer, Janne Kyttanen, to talk all things 3D, and a little bit about fatherhood too. Janne has been behind the scenes quietly working on several 3D related projects that he can now share with us in more detail. In addition to co-founding a VC, Janne consults to companies to help with the ever-changing landscape of 3D in order to prepare for digital transformation and avoid 3D confusion. Janne also tries to add value to a brand with design solutions, identifying new 3D technologies or simply coming up with new tech strategies to disrupt the industry. Janne was instrumental in making some of the first design jewelry, lamps, and furniture in 3D printing. He also started 3D printing’s first design label .MGX and the first design studio FOC before leading design at 3D Systems. In addition to leading in design and tech development, Janne has also made some of the most iconic 3D printed design pieces to date which are in the permanent collections of museums worldwide. It is always a good time to find out what the pioneers in our industry are doing. How did you get into 3D Printing consulting? Perhaps I have grown along with the industry. The truth is 20 something years ago, when I first got into 3D printing, I was focused more on selfish goals. After joining 3D systems in 2011, I woke up and started to realize how many companies and people are confused about 3D. Whether it is a 3D printing company not maximizing their tech in creative ways or companies wanting to get into 3D but making horrible purchase decisions in order to achieve that goal. I became tired of watching from the sidelines and decided to do something about it. Plus, 10 years ago when people started buying in-home 3D printers, the level of consulting was more about of the best filament to use or printer to buy in order to make Yoda heads. The 3D printing industry is now at a place where it is starting to create a real FOMO effect for big companies if they don’t get involved. It’s not hype or some distant future promise anymore, but there is real data to back it up. Why did you get started in 3D printing and what makes you tick after all these years? In general, I love how technologies constantly make our lives better and more efficient. 3D printing is no different. However, as previously mentioned, what is not efficient – big corporations’ and their adaptation to change. They have the people, the money and all the resources under the sun, but still seem to make poor decisions when it comes to adopting tech or digital transformation. The main question for me is “why does history repeat itself even if the signs are written on the wall?” I suppose what makes me tick is helping organizations adapt to new technologies by creating the right strategies and thinking through effective steps for implementation to support the inevitable changes before they experience disruption. Many reading this interview might be able to relate to this picture. A CEO puts their fist on the table and insists the company gets into 3D printing but fails to first require his executives to present a thorough implementation plan which answers key questions. For example, what will these printers do and who will they serve, who will operate and service them, how will we buy software and materials, do we have the right skills in-house and if not, what and how do we acquire them, is now the right time or is the market ready, etc. It’s a classic example where companies may have the right vision but fail with the strategy and execution. My goal is to be in that meeting room before they get into the 3D game. Will you still offer design services? People probably know me mostly from my design work within the industry and as a result, I still get requests like: “Can you design our new machine, how long will it take and how much does it cost?” My general answer is: “it takes 25 years and 5 minutes.” For me, the design is the simplest part of the equation. My true interest lies in connecting the dots and providing the right network: materials, software, applications, distribution and connecting them all into the final product. So I am not just interested in designing “things” for companies, but rather designing the structure, processes, and resources which support the company to sell their products effectively. A good example of this is a recent project with Nexa 3D. You were absent from the industry for a few years and now it looks like you are back in the game. What have you been up to after leaving 3D Systems? I may have appeared quiet and absent, but I never really left, I was just perhaps not as visible. Even though the industry was still collecting its marbles after the stock market plummeted, I found an opportunity to co-create a VC fund, WTFVC, where my partner and I design and invest in our own ideas. We start companies from the ground up, providing interim management, and then hire kickass CEOs to run with them in return for equity. We also do some external investments too, but only when they add value to the family of companies we are creating. So we are creating 3D ventures for highly specific applications. One of those companies was Pixsweet, a business-to-business solution offering custom 3D ice pops as edible marketing magic for brands and events alike. At the core of it all is technology we invented, 3DTI or 3D thermoform injection, where 3D printing is used as a tool in the overall additive manufacturing process as opposed to the mean to an end. It’s a classic example where technologies collide, and the result is the unexpected. Its part search engine, part food science, part 3D printing and part food packing tech. The vision was to empower everyone so that they could Taste the Internet by turning any image into 3D food in a matter of seconds in the cloud.
VIDEO And if you are wondering – why ice pops? My quick sarcastic answer is why not. The longer answer is that the application hadn’t changed in over 100 years and it seemed like a simple way to disrupt three ancient industries at the same time: 3D printing, food distribution and thermoform packaging tech. The reality is that 3DTI can handle any liquid, paste or gel type substance. We just decided to first focus on food. On average, the food packaging industry runs businesses in the 5% EBITDA range (e.g. meat or cheese). In a nutshell, they make a few cents per product, which at the end of the day is a cutthroat business. And they only have one channel, which is high volume retail, meaning they are pretty much cornered. We can make their lives a lot easier through 3D. We are talking about massive industries here, which have not changed for decades, so, unfortunately, it’s not a fast process, but we are happy with the progress and will soon be announcing new large-scale partnerships with our technology. What was the reason for starting the VC? I saw a void in the investment world where some people have the money and others have the ideas. My goal is to help these two worlds collide. We are busy creating a family of ventures, which all add value to each other. Somebody might be creating software, which adds value to a new manufacturing tech we are creating and vice versa. Somebody might also approach me for consulting for them, but we might end up investing in them or become board members. What kind of startups do you guys create? We are focused on the unexpected disruptive 3D innovations, which nobody else sees. The kind of oddballs, which at first seem so strange, that they are interesting. Unless your organization is structured with a separate skunkworks unit, blue sky innovation hardly ever happens from within organizations. It hits you in the back of the head when you least expect it. It’s the classic innovator’s dilemma within big organizations, which keeps on repeating itself time after time. Most companies are simply structured to make money as fast as possible, incrementally improving what they have, streamlining their channels, automating processes etc. It is not in their interest to deliberately disrupt what they have built, even if it would provide longer term success or more competitive advantage. If we take an example from the 3D printing industry, Stratasys didn’t create a $100 plywood FDM machine 2009, which became the catalyst for disrupting the industry. 3D Systems didn’t create a tabletop SLA machine until very recently. Both of these companies could have created these machines in their sleep, but they didn’t. It simply didn’t make sense, since it would have cannibalized existing channels. Rest is history. What’s next for you? How much time do you have? LOL. On the personal side, my wife and I are busy raising our toddler son, Aiden. Who happens to be very organized, independent, hyper focused (wonder where he gets that from) and is obsessed with all things cars (he did not get that from me). Becoming a father has been the hardest and best thing I have done in my life. I am constantly amazed at the speed of development, overwhelmed with the love I have for him and anxious to start creating and building things together, especially with all the new tech entering the market in 3D, AR and VR. On the professional side, the VC is busy finalizing a few investments in software companies while looking for new opportunities. We are also on the lookout for more 3DTI applications. And in the consulting world, I am busy with some existing projects and in discussions with several other opportunities that I can’t wait to get involved with.
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com November 24, 2018 at 04:06AM |
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