Recently, Ultimaker held its inaugural Showcase event, which is a new biannual platform for the company to share all of its latest news in order to show how innovation will be a core strategic pillar going forward. In addition to new materials and new software and firmware features and updates, the best news was saved for last, when CTO Miguel Calvo announced the new Ultimaker PVA Removal Station near the end of the Showcase.

“Feedback from our users is that the removal of PVA is time-consuming and certainly not hassle-free,” Calvo said during the Showcase. “Ultimaker has been working hard on a solution to these problems, and today I’m delighted to announce the Ultimaker PVA Removal Station, bringing efficient post-processing with peace of mind.”

The addition of the professional PVA Removal Station to the Ultimaker Platform will help users develop their products, and bring them to market, much more quickly, as it ensures fast and effective post-processing of prints that use PVA support material. Currently in the final stages of development, Ultimaker claims that its PVA Removal Station makes post-processing four times faster than normal.

Ultimaker CTO Miguel Calvo

“Ultimaker is always looking for ways to remove barriers to 3D printing. To make things easier, remove complexity, give users the reassurance of a successful print. We know that organizations are challenged to bring more complex products to market faster,” said Jürgen von Hollen, CEO at Ultimaker. “Our new professional PVA Removal Station is the missing link in our end-to-end solution platform, helping designers, engineers, architects, and educators to drive in-house innovation. Our entire 3D printing platform, now including the PVA Removal Station, will allow them to speed up the prototyping and product development processes, enabling safe, quick, and effective PVA removal from even the most complex designs and geometries. It allows teams to visualise quicker approval processes so organizations can run smoother and be smarter.”

When you print parts that require support material, some post-processing is required. Plastic supports typically snap off pretty easily, though sometimes you need to get pliers involved, but PVA, or PolyVinyl Alcohol, is a different story. While it’s a very hands-off solution in terms of the actual post-processing, it takes a long time to dissolve this water-soluble support material, which typically occurs by letting the printed part soak in water for a long time.

Depending on how big your part is, how dense the support structure is, and the complexity of the design, it can take over a day to fully dissolve PVA supports; I can attest to this personally, having used PVA support materials during my review of the Ultimaker S5. I definitely appreciate the ease of just dropping a part into a container of water, walking away, and letting the supports dissolve, but the gummy feel afterward is kind of gross, and having to wait that long for clean parts isn’t great either.

Ultimaker says that its PVA Removal Station is able to reduce the time it takes to dissolve PVA supports by up to 75%, and also decreases the operating time since users don’t have to check on the dissolving process or manually remove the PVA. Simply put your part in the basket, fill the station with water, push the start button, and go about your business. Three to four hours later, all the PVA will be gone from your finished print, and you won’t have to mess with any of that sticky residue.

The Ultimaker PVA Removal Station fills with 13.5 liters of water for dissolving the support material and sounds super easy to use, as the circulation direction changes automatically and you can adjust the speed on your own should you want. The station includes an internal basket, complete with dividers to keep the prints in place and submerged during the dissolve process. The container is transparent so you can take a peek and see how things are progressing, and a saturation indicator lets you know if the water needs to be changed, so it’s easy to clean and maintain as well.

Ultimaker’s new PVA Removal Station is slated to be available for purchase in the first half of 2022.

Move over Adidas, Nike, and New Balance, Heron Preston is here to disrupt the 3D printed shoe game. The fashion designer is well known for his avant-garde creations, and from partnering with the New York Department of Sanitation to upcycling counterfeit items from his signature Heron brand, Heron Preston has now entered the footwear world with his HERON01 sneakers.

Heron Preston has partnered with Zellerfeld, a technology company and relative newcomer to the shoe market. He saw an early 3D printed prototype they were showing in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and saw a chance to reimagine the footwear landscape.

Zellerfeld has been carrying on research and development of its 3D printed shoe since its founding in 2015 by a group of engineering students. It sees additive manufacturing as a way to disrupt the sneaker design and manufacturing process in which shoes can be created without traditional factories and supply chains. The HERON01 is the company’s first foray into fashion footwear, where Heron Preston is channeling his design ethos into a higher concept of innovating through technology and circularity.

Preston refers to the HERON01 as “just the beginning – with additive manufacturing, the potential is unlimited. I was able to design & print functional and evolving prototypes in hours — with traditional manufacturing, this would have taken months. I can’t wait to print more shoes and updates.”

Heron Preston for Zellerfeld, the HERON01, in Milan.

The shoe derives key design elements from the Heron bird. The sole impression is of the bird’s claw, with textures that mimic the scales and other details found on its feet. The HERON01 is available in 3 colors, white, black, and orange.

Previously, Adidas, New Balance, and Nike have all ventured into additive manufacturing shoe wear. Adidas teamed with Carbon to 3D print the midsoles of their 4DFWD line, New Balance partnered with Formlabs to revamp their classic shoes, and Nike designed a shoe with Jamaican Olympian sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. What sets the HERON01 apart from the rest of the market is that it is said to be the first one to be entirely 3D printed, having no seams, stitching, glue, or other weak points. It is printed using a variety of internal lattice structures, which allows for countless ways to design elevated fits, breathability, and cushioning.

Most of the initial design renders came about over a year of transatlantic WhatsApp conversations due to the worldwide pandemic. Having the ability to design shoes without the rigid traditional footwear methods or supply chain issues freed up the ability to revolutionize the workflow process.

The HERON01 launched first on the StockX’s Campaign for a Cause, where participants could donate $10 to enter a raffle to be part of the Beta program. The proceeds went to the Global March, a charity which is combating child labor in supply chains.

The Zellerfeld’s Beta Program gave the raffle winners exclusive access to wear the HERON01 shoes, then trade them in, have them reprinted, and updated to a new version after the beta launch. Because of their single material method, the shoes are fully recyclable and each beta member are entitled to one free update in the future.

It’s safe to say that after the HERON01’s successful beta program, 3D printed shoes will likely continue to disrupt and upend the global design and consumption of shoes. Judging from the response, sneakerheads the world over are in for quite a treat.

(Source: Forbes.com / Images: Zellerfeld)

Usually, when people consider the advantages to 3D printed housing, they think of affordability, and convenience in the manufacture and distribution process. And with good reason! It’s hard to think of another singular technological process that has as much potential as additive manufacturing to revolutionize humanity’s economic and logistic capacities for home construction.

Another consideration, though, is aesthetics, and while it may not be as urgent a matter as cost and transportability, it might be just as important, in the long run, for getting consumers as a whole fully onboard with 3D printed houses. The Turkish architectural firm MASK Architects, headed by Öznur Pınar Çer, has put the aesthetic angle on full display in its latest project, EXOSTEEL: the name the company has given to the world’s first modular 3D printed steel housing structures. You can’t live in an EXOSTEEL house yet – although given what they look like, if you could, I’d happily leave my studio apartment and head to Europe right now – but they can be seen on exhibit near the Nivola Museum in Sardinia.

The most impressive aspect of the EXOSTEEL design model is that it anticipates being employed to build homes right into their surroundings. Thus, while the word “aesthetic” in the field of construction can frequently be taken to mean “non-functional”, quite the opposite is true, in this case. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, when you consider previous projects that MASK architects have worked on, including an artificial breathing palm module system in Dubai. EXOSTEEL is yet another step in that direction, giving us an idea of what a state-of-the-art garden city could actually look like.

Perhaps the most ingenious aspect of this initial, modular version of the EXOSTEEL home is that the elemental parts were printed specifically to fit into a characteristically sloping Sardinian countryside locale. The pivotal aspect of the design is a hollow central column, with 1/3 of its length inserted into the ground. “Branches” printed to fit the landscape of each house are then attached to the column at the center, and on each of the floors “a perimeter frame divides and supports the facades made up of panels modeled to follow the organic shape of the house”. Also keeping in mind the extreme windiness typical of Sardinian hillsides, the modules were constructed with vents on the houses western and eastern sides to allow the wind to pass through. Finally, the homes are built with “energy towers” intended to act as hubs for community-wide solar and wind-powered electric grids. MASK has named this particular project “Madre Natura”, in homage to the Nivola Museum’s La Madre sculpture, from which the team drew its inspiration.

Of course, no matter how the industry develops, not all 3D printed homes will be able to be located in surroundings as beautiful as Sardinia. But that’s in fact the most exciting thing about this project: theoretically, what MASK has done here could be applied to any environment you can think of, which means the ability to optimize the aesthetic and environmental potential for any home-building project anywhere on Earth. And because of the structural simplicity of the central design – along with the unique capabilities of additive manufacturing for intelligent-construction in the design process – the potential for earth-sheltering homes in an attractive package, at an affordable rate, just started to get far more realistic. MASK’s project truly embodies 3D printing’s potential for eventually finding harmony between art, science, and a socially-just housing market.

Pittsburgh continues to reinvent what it means to be the Steel City, turning to advanced new manufacturing tools and ideas to move toward a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture Associate Professor Dana Cupkova is a thought leader in this new future and, specifically, how advanced manufacturing technologies are reshaping a new era of material reuse and eco-friendly architecture – increasingly using ExOne binder jet 3D printing that was pioneered and commercialized in the region.

Track Chair of the Master of Science in Sustainable Design program, Cupkova’s view of the future for architecture is a circular one, in which materials are managed as a continuous resource that is both finite and precious. New tools such as 3D printing enable use of these materials in innovative new ways that are sustainable while connecting people and communities more to the environment around them.

Key features of her most recent work are large human-sized cradles, or rocking planters, 3D printed from powdered materials, such as sand or recycled concrete, and then infiltrated and coated with bio-based resins to produce structurally strong designs with unique features that help support water management and natural ecosystems. The cradles are to be placed in the community garden and tree nursery on the Hazelwood Green site where Mill 19, once Pittsburgh’s most productive steel plant, is part of an ongoing a rebirth as a new advanced manufacturing hub with offices that anchor new a new development that also includes housing and urban green spaces.

3D printed cradles encourage community interaction while supporting water management and the natural ecosystem

The cradle is a small but significant part of a larger and growing vision around reused and powderized materials, such as concrete, and the role it should play in sustainable architecture going forward, a concept that Cupkova calls CRuMBLE (Concrete Rubble Manufacturing for Building Lifecycle and Environment).

The carbon footprint of concrete as a material is actually much lower than other building materials like steel, aluminum, and plastic. However, the inefficient way we form concrete into large slabs and the amount of waste it generates offsets many of its benefits. In 2015, over 200 million tons of concrete alone entered the waste steam and less than a third was utilized for remanufacture.

“We use too much concrete – we use it in large, bulky blocks that at scale is no longer environmentally beneficial” Cupkova explains, “and when we demolish existing infrastructure, we dispose of most of that material.”

But binder jet 3D printing recycled concrete that has been pulverized back into powder creates the possibility for concrete to be shaped more efficiently with less volume and waste and allows the material to be recycled back into use. “Ecologically intelligent customization and bespoke design is truly enabled by advances in digital manufacturing technology like binder jetting,” she said.

Master of Science in Sustainable Design students test new geometries

State-of-the-Art 3D Printing Helps Reclaim Nature in the Steel City

Cupkova is a leader connecting research and architectural practice. She looks at the relationship between design space and ecology while working to actively incorporate technological innovation toward creative solutions. “You end up shaping materials differently once you start to prioritize climate-specific concerns and environmental ethics, and 3D printing allows us to design without limitations,” she said.

By approaching design through a lens of environmental stewardship, her team created the cradles as urban furniture encouraging play, curiosity, and community building but that also provide ecological services such as rainwater management in climate-responsive design.

Ecological patterning on the surface of the planters is tailored to the growth of an area’s native plant species while complex water control and storage designs help the cradles become part of the environment itself to capture rainwater. Structural optimization enabled through 3D printing allows Cupkova to design more efficiently, with less material, and also incorporate features like water storage voids to cultivate plants and prevent excess runoff from entering the wastewater system. “The design of the object is shaped in a way that even if humans don’t care, nature cares and uses the shape and material to encourage plant growth. It will care for us,” she explains.

Yet these complex designs are difficult to produce with the limitations of traditional manufacturing methods. Additionally, thermal patterns are climate and location-specific, making it difficult to standardize a design with any ability to scale the concept. Creating custom molds for each location – the traditional way of building with concrete – would increase the carbon footprint of the designs while making production inefficient. ExOne Binder jet 3D printing allows designs customized to the environment of any location to be easily and locally created.

Surface patterns 3D printed directly onto the surface of the cradles

Plant growth encouraged by the ecological patterning of the cradles

Rethinking Waste Streams

For a city still managing the effects of post-industrial pollution, Cupkova sees reclaiming materials and using environmental upcycling as essential to heal both the land and the community. In addition to the geometric complexity and customization that comes with 3D printing, the flexibility of binder jetting enables the CMU team to reimagine the possibilities of waste stream diversion and explore novel ways to reuse materials.

Starting with a bed of powder, ExOne binder jetting machines use an industrial printhead to selectively deposit binder that builds a solid part in unique shapes one thin layer at a time. The design is then infiltrated with a bio-based, high-performance epoxy resin. Cupkova’s team has already achieved cement-like strength and material properties in prototype designs built from the standard sand used by foundries in large-format binder jetting systems.

Now, they’re advancing their project by moving on to reclaimed materials. “We will be working with local demolition companies to collect existing waste that we can pulverize into granular powder for testing with 3D printing,” Cupkova said. Remanufactured into feedstock for binder jetting, her team uses materials like concrete diverted from the waste stream and upcycled to prevent new material production and enable local re-use, further reducing the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process.

Ultimately, with advanced manufacturing techniques, Cupkova’s Team CRuMBLE concept is pushing architects to rethink entire lifecycles and enhance material usage with buildings designed for both construction and reuse – a cradle-to-cradle approach. “In addition to geometric complexity, the customization abilities of 3D printing enable more efficient use of building materials where old building stock can be recycled and new buildings can be designed for disassembly,” Cupkova said.

See videos of the cradles in action and read the complete case study here.

We’ve got several multi-day conferences to tell you about in this week’s roundup, along with webinars on topics ranging from semiconductors and bioprinting to digital dentistry and more. Read on for all of the details!

Online Euro PM2021 Conference

First up in this week’s series of conferences, Europe’s annual powder metallurgy Virtual Congress & Exhibition--Euro PM2021—will be held virtually, from October 18th-22nd, by the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA). Covering all topics related to powder metallurgy, including materials, applications, consolidation technologies, powder production, and more, the keynotes, discussion panels, and other presentations from the congress and exhibition will be recorded and available online for decision-makers, academics, PM-related companies, and other attendees to view; this includes “Cold Spray Delivering for Defence – The Moment Critique,” by SPEE3D’s Calum Stewart, Director of MILSPEC Consultants.

“Conducted online for the second time, Euro PM2021 Virtual Congress is set to feature a world class technical programme which will define the latest developments in Powder Metallurgy (PM) over five full days of technical presentations, special interest seminars and exhibition.”

You can register for Euro PM2021 here.

Walking Through the New BCN3D Cloud

At 10 am EST on Monday, October 18th, BCN3D Technologies will hold a live webinar, “A walkthrough of the new BCN3D Cloud.” Daniel Arroyo, the company’s Chief Software Officer, will explain the development of the BCN3D Cloud, how users can manage and control prints in real time, from anywhere, with the new Cloud, and answer attendee questions via a live chat function.

“What can I expect?

·  An overview of the main features including queues, statistics, clusters, roles and permissions, workflows, and SSO.
·  A tour of the brand new platform with a completely reinvigorated user experience and interface.
·  A detailed explanation of each plan to see which best suits your needs.

You can register for the webinar here.

MRO Aviation Week Europe

In the first of several events that run from Tuesday, October 19th through Thursday, October 21st, MRO Aviation Week Europe will be held at RAI Amsterdam in The Netherlands, with a focus on expanding the AM possibilities for the aerospace aftermarket supply chain, as the aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul industry continues to increase its use of 3D printing to speed up lead times, streamline operations, and meet high production standards. Long-term Airbus supplier Materialise is just one of many companies exhibiting at the event, and representatives from nearly 170 unique airlines will be there as well.

“MRO Europe provides thought leadership on the crucial industry issues and concerns through its superior editorial content and extensive conference agenda, delivering an unrivaled industry forum where key intelligence is gathered and real business leads are generated. MRO Europe offers unparalleled networking opportunities over the 3 days of the event and is the place to forge new partnerships and cement existing relationships.”

You can register for the event here.

Altair’s Future.Industry

Also from the 19th-21st, global technology company Altair will host a complimentary global digital experience, Future.Industry, focused on the advances in manufacturing. Early-stage startup entrepreneurs and big-brand thought leaders will make up the roster of companies using simulation, AI, and high-performance computing (HPC) to change how they design, operate, and compete in the manufacturing industry, and featured keynote presentations will feature executives from Ford, BMW, Samsung Mobile, and more. The event will also include customer presentations focused on sustainability, manufacturability, and smart, connected products, as well as practical applications of Altair technology.

“Future.Industry is designed to serve as a venue to discuss how we can – together – create a smarter, more connected, and sustainable world. We look forward to hosting the world’s brightest minds from all industries as we share, challenge, and explore the best practices that will inspire our future,” said ames R. Scapa, the Founder and CEO of Altair.

You can register for the event here.

EASTEC 2021

As part of the Manufacturing Technology Series produced by SME and The Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT), EASTEC 2021 will be held from the 19th through 21st in West Springfield, Massachusetts, a state described as “a hotbed of manufacturing innovation.” In addition to keynote presentations, technology exhibits, panel discussions, and an Integrated Solution Center, there will also be a Knowledge Bar at EASTEC, in addition to a Student Summit and other features.

“Three days of exploring brand-new manufacturing technologies, learning from industry experts and networking with like-minded professionals only begins to describe the East Coast’s premier manufacturing event – EASTEC.”

You can register for EASTEC 2021 here.

Sartomer at RadTech Europe

The last of the multi-day events starting on Tuesday, October 19th is RadTech Europe, the European association for UV/EB curing technology. The online event will look at the future of radiation curing, examine new and emerging trends and innovations, and take a closer look at new applications for UV/EB curing. One of the companies presenting at this conference and exhibition, which ends on Wednesday, October 20th, will be Sartomer—part of Arkema’s Coating Solutions segment—showcasing its latest innovations to enhance sustainable energy curing technology. The company will be presenting several featured products, as well as multiple technical presentations.

“We are once again eager to participate in RadTech Europe to introduce our most recent resins and photoinitiators for energy-curable systems. In addition to discussing innovative offerings that enable exceptional freedom of performance design, our scientists are presenting on the latest technological developments for UV, LED, excimer and EB curing,” stated Magdalena Doherty, general manager at Sartomer EMEA.

You can register for RadTech Europe here.

ASTM’s Webinar NDT for 3D Printed Parts

At 10 am EST on Tuesday the 19th, ASTM’s AM Center of Excellence (AMCOE) is holding a webinar titled “NDT for Additive Manufacturing Parts.” Dr. Ben Dutton, a Technical Specialist at the MTC in the Metrology & NDT Group, will teach attendees AM defect complex origins, in-process NDT, NDT standards highlights, measuring residual stress with laser ultrasound, and more.

“After completing this webinar, the attendees will achieve the following:

• Be aware of AM defect formation complexity.

• Recognize capabilities and limitations of conventional/non-Post Built NDT methods.

• Be up to date with published and developing NDT standards.

• Be aware of in-process NDT inspection/monitoring methods with high capability.

• Be alert of novel methods to measure residual stress.

You can register for the webinar here; the cost is $49.

TriMech on SOLIDWORKS Simulation

Also at 10 am EST on the 19th, TriMech will help you “Get to Know SOLIDWORKS Simulation” through tools like fatigue analysis, design study and parametric optimization, frequency study, post-processing, and more. TriMech Application Engineer Suman Sudhakaran will discuss these tools, and more, for testing prototype designs with SOLIDWORKS Simulation before they’re built, giving designers a safe, virtual environment to test out real-life scenarios, and also discuss some of the new feature enhancements in SOLIDWORKS 2022.

“Innovation is not an option, but a necessity in today’s technology-driven world. There is an ever-increasing demand to reduce overall product development time and enhance product quality. Engineers and product designers cannot afford to spend their time building multiple physical prototypes to explore different designs and evaluate the risks. This is where design validation tools such SOLIDWORKS Simulation offers an unparalleled advantage to virtually test product performance concurrent to the design process.”

You can register for the webinar here.

HP & Hawk Ridge Systems: D2M Extreme 

HP 3D printing partner Hawk Ridge Systems is hosting the Design to Manufacturing Extreme Digital Conference, or D2M Extreme, starting at 11 am EST on Tuesday the 19th and consisting of 20 breakout sessions, including two by HP. This is the second year for the conference, and it will include more in-depth topics, speakers, and demonstrations on how to use design tools to create products, like off-road unicycles and Formula 1 cars, that, according to Hawk Ridge, go to the extreme.

“In this fast-paced program provided by Hawk Ridge Systems, an HP 3D Printing Partner, you’ll hear from industry trailblazers and how the tools they use have radically changed the way they design everything – from backcountry ski equipment to waterslides, racing parts, water sports and more.‌”

You can register for the conference here.

HP & DesignNews: All in With AM

Speaking of HP, it’s sponsoring a webinar with DesignNews called “All In With Additive Manufacturing: Consumer Goods Design & Production” at 2 pm EST on the 19th. Liz Stortstrom, HP 3D Printing Application Engineer Liz Stortstrom and Eric Folsom, Director of Technology at footwear brand HILOS, will discuss how to use AM to drive consumer product innovation, how process and material selection can relate to demands for sustainability and circularity, provide a breakdown of HILOS’ AM design approach, and more. 

“When you hear about businesses using 3D printing — additive manufacturing — as a production technology, it’s typically a story about how they transformed their traditional manufacturing methods. But what if you started out building your business around this technology?”

You can register for the webinar here.

3D PRINT Paris 2021

From Wednesday to Thursday, October 20th through 21st, 3D PRINT Congress & Exhibition is taking place at Palais des Congrès de Paris. This trade show includes a startup award, 45 conferences and workshops, 80 speakers, and 150 exhibitors, one of which is Materialise, with its 3D printing Magics software. The company is also presenting on how the Marchesini Group used Materialise tray preparation software for its custom packaging machines.

“3D PRINT Congress & Exhibition continues its momentum and launches an event in Paris on October 20 and 21, 2021 at the Palais des Congrès de Paris, to be as close as possible to the many decision-makers centers and experts in additive manufacturing.”

You can register for the trade show here.

Sinterit & the Compact SLS Setup

On Wednesday the 20th, Sinterit will again hold its popular “Compact SLS setup: What do I really need to get into SLS 3D printing?” webinar at 3 am EST. Held in a hybrid format, with a pre-recorded main part and a live Q&A session with Sinterit’s International Sales Manager Dominik Stasiak and Support Manager Robert Garbacz, the webinar will discuss what SLS 3D printing is, what it looked like before Sinterit, how to compose a good SLS solution, how detailed SLS prints should be, how many materials are needed, and more.

“Our SLS 3D printing solution can be tailored for everyone who needs this technology. You can have a sophisticated system for very fast workflow or a basic solution that consists of a Lisa printer, powder sieve, and basic tools if that fits your needs. From this webinar, you’ll learn what to take into account while choosing an SLS set for you.”

You can register for the webinar here.

3D Systems on Semiconductor Performance

In its first of its two webinars on Thursday, October 21st, 3D Systems will discuss semiconductors in “Advancing Semiconductor Capital Equipment Performance with Metal Additive Manufacturing” at 5 am EST. Scott Green, Principal Solutions Leader at 3D Systems, will discuss how to successfully integrate additive manufacturing in semiconductor fabrication, and provide four featured applications of 3D printed semiconductors, including wafer table thermal management, manifold and tubing flow optimization, and more.

“To accelerate innovation, semiconductor capital equipment manufacturers are turning to 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM). AM removes the limitations of traditional manufacturing technologies to enable functionally improved components, and a seamless transition from prototyping to low-volume production of complex parts. This approach can speed delivery of new capital equipment technologies to fabs that are designed to deliver improved productivity, wafer yield, and overall system quality & longevity.”

You can register for the webinar here.

PostProcess Live Solution Experience Tours

PostProcess Technologies is holding “Live Solution Experience Tours” on the 21st, conducted in a live broadcast from the company’s lab. There will be one LSE session at 10 am EST for automated support removal and surface finishing for FDM and PolyJet printing, and then another session at 11 am EST for resin removal and surface finishing for photopolymer 3D printing, like SLA, DLP, and CLIP technologies. Both of these sessions will be held again on December 2nd.

“Sign up today for a PostProcess Live Solution Experience, a real-time group tour of automated 3D post-printing focused on key print technology applications. Conducted by one of our post-printing experts broadcasting from our lab, you will get a close-up view of how software, hardware, and chemistry work together for transformative end part results. See the solutions running live on the proprietary AUTOMAT3D platform and engage in real-time Q&A.”

3D Systems on FRESH Bioprinting

The second 3D Systems webinar on the 21st will be “FRESH 3D Bioprinting: Closing the Gap Between Structure and Function in Biofabrication,” at 11 am EST. Andrew Lee, PhD, FluidForm’s head of bioprinting, will provide an overview of its FRESH 3D bioprinting technology, and how it is a unique platform for soft material printing, along with its applications for research, repair, and replacement of human tissues. Attendees will also hear about the current state, and future, of bioprinting, as well as bioprinting with the Allevi by 3D Systems platform.

“In a discussion following the presentation, we’ll describe the unique FRESH platform and its compatibility with soft materials as well as Allevi by 3D Systems bioprinting portfolio. Plus, we’ll explore the future of bioprinting and how we can achieve our goals to solve today’s clinical challenges.”

You can register for the webinar here.

B9Creations & ASME – Medical Micro 3D Printing

Later on the 21st, at 2 pm EST, B9Creations and ASME will hold a webinar called “Challenges and Emerging Solutions Through Medical Micro 3D Printing.” Dani Mason, the VP of Marketing and Communications for B9Creations, together with Scott Tuominen, Senior Principal Design Technician for a major global medical device manufacturer, will discuss medical challenges, and how they can be solved with ultra-precise microscale 3D printing. The two presenters will explain how the technology has changed the way they design, and how they’re leveraging custom AM solutions for on-demand production of medical devices and components.

“Hear a discussion on how the latest advancements in 3D printing technology are enabling larger-format printers with effective resolution finer than 25 microns to power microscale parts in engineering, elastomeric, biocompatible, and clear materials.”

You can register for the webinar here.

3DHEALS on Digital Dentistry

In the final webinar of the week, 3DHEALS will discuss “Dental 3D Printing: Latest in Digital Dentistry” at 4 pm EST on Thursday, October 21st. Justin Marks, CDT, the Founder and CEO of Arfona Printing; Rick Ferguson, DDMD, who maintains a private dental practice in Florida; Dr. Mayra Vasques, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and founder of iNNOV3D; Lee Dockstader, Vertical Market Development at HP; and Sérgio Luis Rodrigues Gianvechio, Dentist at CROIB ODONTOLOGIA, will discuss their own unique perspectives about the current state, and near future, of dental 3D printing.

“Dentistry seems to be the potential breakthrough industry to manifest many 3D printing enthusiasts’ dream of mass customization, point of care delivery, and local manufacturing hub for dental professionals, reducing inefficiency and costs. Over the past several years, 3DHEALS has invited many different stakeholders to share their experiences, ranging from material innovation, software development, to new clinical workflows. Applications ranging from surgical guides, implants, dentures, night guards are among the new applications gaining increasing attention either in the startup world or the industry at large, in addition to the existing billion dollar market of dental aligners. The collective thought is that 3D printing can do more and more in parallel to the maturation of technologies.”

You can register for the webinar here; as always, breakout rooms will be available for networking afterwards.

Do you have news to share about any future webinars or virtual and live events? Please let us know!

Kicking things off in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, the STEM Careers Coalition has launched new resources, together with some industry-leading partners, and Digital Metal and Etteplan have entered into a 3D printing design partnership. Moving on, Stryker has established an R&D 3D printing lab in Queensland. Finally, nScrypt received a patent for controlling heat around a 3D print build.

Celebrating MFG Day with STEM Careers Coalition

A national STEM initiative anchored in schools by Discovery Education and powered by corporate leaders, called the STEM Careers Coalition, launched new free resources in celebration of the recent Manufacturing (MFG) Day. Held on October 1st and created by The Manufacturing Institute, MFG Day helps inspire students to become the manufacturing industry makers, creators, and doers of tomorrow, and coalition’s new standards-aligned content, sourced from partnering top organizations like Microsoft, Boeing, and the Caterpillar Foundation, include hands-on student activities, manufacturing-focused career profiles, and classroom activities, which feature important STEM skills and guides for classroom implementation.

“Connecting students to success means meeting them where they are – there is incredible untapped potential all over the country that just needs a bit of nurturing to flourish. STEM can be the tool to do so. Alongside our partners, we are proud to again present high-quality and standards-aligned no-cost resources focused on the wide-world of manufacturing to educators, students, and families,” said Marla Wilson, the Executive Director of the STEM Careers Coalition.

Design Partnership between Digital Metal and Etteplan

Christian Lönne, CEO, Digital Metal; Riku Riikonen, SVP, Engineering Solutions, Etteplan; Tero Hämeenaho, Department Manager, AMO, Etteplan

Global engineering company Etteplan has entered into a strategic additive manufacturing Design Partnership with Digital Metal, which develops and manufactures industrial metal binder jet printers. Through the partnership, the two companies plan to offer design optimization solutions with Digital Metal’s binder jetting technology, putting Etteplan’s knowledge in designing components for 3D printing to use in order to speed the transition from traditional methods to additive manufacturing.

“Together with Etteplan we will be able to offer a stronger value proposition, covering a complete design and manufacturing process, to our customers,” said Digital Metal’s CEO Christian Lönne. “The partnership gives us access to a world-class design team that complements our business very well.”

Stryker Establishes Medical R&D Lab in Queensland

A new R&D Lab in Brisbane will help ensure Stryker has the capacity to manufacture patient-specific implantable devices, and progress strategic research priorities in areas including robotics, additive manufacturing, digital health and infection control.

With support from the Queensland Government, The University of Queensland (UQ), and Queensland University of Technology (QUT), global medical technology group Stryker will establish its first Australian research and development lab in, you guessed it, Queensland, specifically at the Herston Health Precinct. Having made this investment in what the Head of the Queensland Digital Health Research Network, UQ Associate Professor Clair Sullivan, calls “world class digital health capability,” the university is looking to work with Stryker in a variety of areas as part of this partnership, such as infection control, digital health, medical imaging, new biomaterials, orthopaedics, and more.

“With the establishment of this new R&D lab, we now have a global corporate partner on our doorstep, with the resources and the scale to help transfer our leading research into real-world outcome,” said Associate Professor Sullivan.

“Together, we will lead change in Queensland, and globally via a powerful, comprehensive and contemporary health research capability, while at the same time harnessing UQ’s clinical, public health and data science expertise.

“Through this partnership, we will be able to build infrastructure to drive globally significant research, healthcare innovation and improved patient and population health outcomes over the next decade.”

nScrypt Receives Patent for Heat Controlling in AM

Finally, 3D printing OEM nScrypt, which designs and manufactures microdispensing, 3D Manufacturing, and biomanufacturing equipment for industrial applications, has been awarded a patent for controlling heat in metal or plastic 3D printing. US Patent No. 10,500,830, “Apparatus and Method for 3D Fabrication,” actually contains 17 dependent claims and two independent claims, and covers controlled melting, cooling, and extruding of high-temperature metal, plastic, or powder, while also keeping high temperature from spreading to areas of the print where it shouldn’t be. The patented invention, which is available for licensing under mutually favorable terms, also includes easy removal of different nozzles or pen tips, which could be conical or ceramic to decrease pressure or heat radiation, and various types of heating units, including an ultrasonic wave generator, laser, or infrared heat source.

“This patent addresses the problem of controlling the heat around the build, confining it and controlling it where you need it. A cool part of this invention is to use 3D printing to accomplish this goal, by printing the wiring or heating element on the nozzle or the nozzle holder. This is a great addition to our patent portfolio,” stated nScrypt CEO Dr. Ken Church.

BASF, one of the largest businesses in the 3D printing industry, is slowly rolling out its 3D printing materials with the possibility of overshadowing existing players in the space. Its latest line is a series of flexible filaments meant for “easy, rapid and cost- efficient production of 3D printed parts via Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF).”

The Forward AM Ultrafuse Flexible Filament Portfolio is made up of three materials: Ultrafuse TPU 64D, Ultrafuse TPU 95A and Ultrafuse TPS 90A. All three are meant to be soft, yet durable and offer mechanical strength and abrasion resistance, thus making them useful for industrial applications.

“Flexible materials surround us in our daily lives, in automotive manufacturing and production tools as well as in household appliances and consumer goods. In developing our Flexible Filament Portfolio we leveraged the decades of experience BASF has gathered in flexible materials such as Elastollan for traditional manufacturing. We are now transferring this expertise to AM to support our customers in realizing next-level industrial 3D printing applications with the very best flexible filaments on the market,” said Roger Sijlbing, Head of Sales and Marketing, Additive Extrusion Solutions at BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH.

Ultrafuse TPU 64D is the hardest of the elastomers in the series, with high rigidity and flexibility, making it ideal for impact-resistant parts. Ultrafuse TPU 95A is meant for quick and easy printing, while maintaining durability and flexibility, as well as abrasion resistance. For this reason, Forward AM, suggests its use for wear-and-tear applications. Finally, there’s Ultrafuse TPS 90A, which offers “unprecedented soft-touch surface haptics, giving printed parts a non-slip touch and feel.” It demonstrates low moisture uptake and “convincing layer adheision”, which BASF suggests makes it ideal for two component parts and appliance grips.

These new materials complement Forward AM’s existing flexible filaments, Ultrafuse TPU 85A and Ultrafuse TPC 45D. BASF believes that these newer filaments can be used for industrial applications, which has so far been difficult to achieve with existing materials on the market.

While firms such as NinjaTek have been working on flexible filaments for years, earning a great deal of consumer loyalty, it’s hard not to imagine a company like BASF taking over the market by sheer size, force, and finance alone. Meanwhile, the company has spun out a 3D printing service bureau dedicated to spare parts. I have little doubt that a reckoning is coming for others in the space, unless they get acquired by BASF or one of its competitors, like Mitsubishi Chemical.

Stratasys signed a deal with French med-tech startup Bone 3D to provide 3D printing technology to local hospitals. This cooperation is part of Bone 3D’s HospiFactory initiative, equipping healthcare institutions with up to five 3D printing technologies on-site for bespoke on-demand production of essential medical equipment, medical devices, and patient-specific anatomical models. As part of the strategic agreement, Bone 3D will invest in and supply Stratasys’ latest fused deposition modeling (FDM) and PolyJet 3D printing systems according to the particular requirements of individual hospitals and medical institutions of the HospiFactory network.

Via Bone 3D’s HospiFactory initiative, healthcare providers can sub-contract 3D printing hardware and services from Bone 3D. The service grants them the direct means to fulfill their production requirements on-site and receive dedicated ongoing support from a team of experienced biomedical engineers to support the demand from the entire medical system.

Established just three years ago, Bone 3D is already a leading 3D printing service provider for the healthcare industry and has been working closely with Stratasys from the very beginning. Back in 2019, the French manufacturer installed its first Stratasys J750 Digital Anatomy 3D printer after identifying its full color, multi-material attributes as the solution to strengthen its capabilities and quickly produce highly precise medical and orthodontic models for its customers. At the time, Bone 3D founder and CEO Jérémy Adam described the J750 as a genuine workhorse from a production standpoint and in the R&D development of medical devices.

Since then, the startup invested in more than 30 Stratasys 3D printers, including the recently introduced multi-material J5 MediJet 3D printer and several F-Series FDM’s for a range of applications requiring tough, durable parts, like medical devices and maintenance parts for hospitals, such as a replacement handle for a wheelchair.

The ability to produce parts locally, on-demand is a gamechanger for hospitals and medical institutions. Image courtesy of Bone 3D.

Bone 3D also deployed 60 Stratasys FDM systems in 2020 to Europe’s largest university teaching hospital, the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), to support the frontline fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Bone 3D managed the fleet’s implementation, operation, and support, giving the AP-HP its in-house capability to produce vital personal protective equipment (PPE), electrical syringe pumps, intubation equipment, and respirator valves on-demand, bridging the shortfall in traditionally manufactured equipment.

Adam said that early on in the pandemic, the world witnessed the importance of 3D printing first-hand as it provided a swift and direct means of producing vital equipment for healthcare workers. “However, beyond that, the versatility of 3D printing has seen huge demand from hospitals and medical institutions as a means to create maintenance parts, rehabilitation parts, and medical devices. Our HospiFactory initiative will ensure that some of the market’s most advanced 3D printing technologies are made accessible exactly where and when they are needed by surgeons and clinicians across the French hospital network.”

Boasting a team of 35 collaborators, including engineers and surgeons, Bone 3D serves more than 250 customers throughout the country. Aside from the AP-HP, other clients include the University of Paris, Strasbourg University Hospital, and the University Hospital of Basel. The options are limitless; 3D printing technologies can produce applications ranging from procedural simulators and educational tools that allow medical staff to practice performing a surgical procedure to create a replacement handle for a wheelchair.

French startup Bone 3D equips Strasbourg hospital with Stratasys 3D printers, Bone 3D CEO Jérémy Adam (left) and Director of Production Jonas Kosior (right). Image courtesy of Bone 3D/French Healthcare

An increasing number of hospitals worldwide are building labs and incorporating 3D printing workflows to provide on-demand, customized care for their patients. In addition, advanced manufacturing technologies are helping change the landscape of medicine by revolutionizing medical equipment. Innovative services like Bone 3D’s HospiFactory could drive the expansion of personalized healthcare by assisting medical institutions to transition to become the “hospitals of the future.”

For years, Stratasys has fast-tracked ideas into production, especially in the healthcare sector. According to Adam, the Israeli company’s longstanding expertise makes it the ideal partner to take HospiFactory to the next level. “We now have the full 3D printing package through one point of contact, giving us the production capability and agility to meet the needs of our customers.”

Additionally, Stratasys’ Director of Healthcare for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Eric Erickson, highlighted the importance of initiatives like the HospiFacotry to increase the accessibility of 3D printing technology to a much broader geographic network of hospitals and to cater to a substantial demand for localized production of 3D printed medical equipment and anatomical models. The ability to produce parts locally, on-demand is a gamechanger for hospitals and medical institutions, giving them the power to 3D print the critical parts they need when they need them, concluded Erickson.

As 3D printing continues to improve on the hardware front, there are still major obstacles to adoption on the software side of the equation, particularly when it comes to entry level users and institutions who may not require industrial equipment. For instance hobbyists or makers who have a great use-case for 3D printing, without needing to know it intimately. Or in schools and universities, where teachers and labs would rather focus on unleashing student creativity than tinkering with printer profiles, easy-to-use software is essential.

After some three years of internal development, BuildBee has emerged as a potential solution as a cloud-based print prep and control tool that lowers the barrier to entry to 3D printing technology. With a streamlined interface, yet advanced features such as auto-repair and extensive part libraries, BuildBee could become a go-to option for everyone from hobbyists to complete enterprises running print farms. We spoke to the CEO, Leanne Connelly, who told us about the company’s slicing tool and how it fits into her larger mission of enabling access to additive manufacturing.

BuildBee sprung from the work that Connelly and her team performed at their previous company, Me3D. There, they developed a simple and elegant 3D printer primarily targeted at schools, with an open design and the ability to 3D print non-toxic, biodegradable materials. This was paired with learning content and training material for teachers. However, as straightforward as the actual printers were, the team realized that the real hurdle was the software.

“We learned a lot about how to bring new people to 3D printing and how to make 3D printing accessible for people who aren’t super into it and totally techy. We realized that there’s quite a lot of scope to improve things for those people and we were quite good at it. Along that journey, the software platform turned out to be probably the biggest barrier to entry that we found and the place that had the most scope to make improvements so that 3D printing could be more accessible for everybody. So, that’s when we started to really focus on our BuildBee software and created our own company around it.” Connelly said.

Caption: BuildBee founders (L to R): Leanne Connelly, Matt Connelly, Fletcher Thompson, and Matthew Griffiths

With internal development having lasted several years, BuildBee came out of the gate with an advanced and feature-rich product. First and foremost, it’s cloud-based, which is only just now emerging as a feature within print preparation and control software. This means that not only can a user run the program from anywhere in the world, but they can allow BuildBee to perform the heavy lifting of slicing and editing models before printing. This will be increasingly essential as 3D printing is more widely adopted, as CAD files can require a great deal of memory space on the part of the user computer.

BuildBee is keeping an eye on any development in the 3D printing Wi-Fi dongle space to establish an instant internet connection for 3D printers lacking built-in Wi-Fi. For now, any user with an old Apple/Windows computer or CloudDock (Raspberry Pi) can create a dedicated terminal for their 3D printer (I use an otherwise unused 2013 Macbook) and run their printer remotely. They can then manage their printer and access video feedback from a smartphone or tablet.

“Previously you could set up a cloud installation but needed an expensive piece of hardware and the expertise to plug in two or three pieces of technology. Then, you needed to run a slicer as a separate tool on a local device. And to have another piece of software to repair your models and things like that. With BuildBee we bring all that together into one place and the set up is completely non-technical,” Connelly noted.

As fundamental as cloud-based printing is, BuildBee has also developed a suite of tools that really speeds up the learning curve for actually creating and preparing objects to print. One important tool is, obviously, file repair. BuildBee can perform file analysis to first determine the printability of an object before allowing you to automatically repair it. Other features include advanced combining and splitting (for 3D printing large objects in segments), auto-arranging on the build plate, and built-in height calibration and the platform accepts most file types from OBJ to 3MF and even GLB.

Caption: BuildBee’s model splitting and model repair tools, lithophane generator and game piece library.

There are even tools for creating 3D printable models from scratch. For instance, it’s possible to create 3D printed lithophanes from 2D image files. One of the most interesting features to me are the libraries of customizable prefab models, such as tabletop gaming pieces. With an ingenious tool called MakeCode, BuildBee guides users through a simple drag-and-drop coding process to create their own parametric modeling apps. After an hour-long tutorial, you can learn to make a program for generating vases, coasters, game pieces and more.

Caption: SuperBearing. BuildBee Makecode enables users to create their own parametric modeling apps through a simple drag-and-drop coding process.

If desktop 3D printing continues along the trajectory that our executive editor, Joris Peels, predicts, with low-cost print farms evolving to take on industrial service bureaus, then BuildBee has situated itself in an ideal position. Because Me3D was originally working with schools and universities, the tool combines the ease-of-use one would expect for entry-level users with the capabilities meant for institutions. This includes full user management rights and security. In turn, the company has seen a number of print farms run on BuildBee. In fact, the company established its own print farm to produce COVID19 face shields for local hospitals with 50 printers running BuildBee.

The company is also continuing to advance at a quick rate. BuildBee is currently working on adding compatibility for stereolithography and digital light processing machines, as well as 3D printers with infinite Z axes, allowing for batches and extremely long prints. Perhaps more intriguingly, Connelly hinted at the development of machine learning technology to improve print outcomes.

“Our short-term vision for the machine learning engine is to turn it into a recommendations engine so that we do assessments on your models as you go, and we help you set them up better and maybe rethink the way that you are setting them up. And down the track, potentially turning that into an automated process and building in visual feedback from video monitoring” Connelly said.

BuildBee is clearly a capable tool that is only going to become even more so. The only thing holding the company back is spreading awareness of its product. To do this, BuildBee has initiated a clever campaign through integration with 3D model repository Cults3D, in which users can directly send their geometries from Cults3D to BuildBee for 3D printing. Moreover, if users then share their designs on social media and tag BuildBee, they can get a Cults3D gift voucher. This is complemented with the firm’s refer-a-friend program, which is surely going to build name recognition further. With over 35,000 users globally, it seems to be working already and, soon enough, it may become a name brand alongside the other slicers in the industry.

About Buildbee

Founded in 2019 BuildBee Pty Ltd is a Software as a Service (SaaS) private company and the largest in the 3D printing space in Australia. BuildBee offers its customers an all-in-one, easy to use, secure and cloud-based 3D printing software solution.

BuildBee has over 35,000 customers globally, distributed across America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Headquartered in Wollongong, Australia, BuildBee is known for making 3D printing more accessible to users at any level across the consumer, education and enterprise industry segments.

For more information visit BuildBee.com.