Support material for silicone has been difficult to do. Now a team at the University of Florida has developed a material that has low interfacial tension between itself and the silicone 3D print material. This let the team print with both RTV and UV cured off the shelf silicone materials. They can print details of 4 nanometers and parts 8 nanometers across. This could be a considerable step towards 3D printed medical devices and components.   3D Printing firm QOROX 3D printed walls for a day care center in New Zealand. Refreshingly the company is hoping to 3D print commercial struct ..read more

If there were any doubters about the viability of additive construction (AC), their doubt has likely shaken by now. Not only has the sheer number of AC firms that have taken root demonstrated the emergence of a cottage industry, but the projects themselves are becoming more complex. This is showcased by the latest structure made using COBOD’s concrete 3D printing technology, “the tallest on-site 3D printed building in the world.” Located in the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Riyadh, the three-story villa measures 9.9 m tall and 330 m2 in area. It was erected by the largest prop ..read more

Mighty Buildings, the Oakland-based additive construction (AC) company, announced that it has opened a new factory in Monterrey, Mexico, to scale up production of its prefabricated, climate-resilient homes. Last October, Mighty Buildings completed what it referred to as “the world’s first” 3D printed, zero net energy (ZNE) home. In addition to the use of proprietary, concrete-free building materials, Mighty Buildings’ design achieves ZNE through the installation of solar panels on the roofs of its prefabs. The Monterrey facility will produce parts for 1-2 homes per day, for Mighty Buildings ..read more

Shanghai’s newest 3D printing hub, the Additive Manufacturing Technology Center (AMTC), is rapidly growing, increasingly attracting businesses to its innovation-driven environment. One of its latest additions is Anisoprint, a Luxembourg startup specializing in composites and continuous fiber 3D printing. Anisoprint announced today the opening of its new office at the AMTC. This will serve as a hub for the brand’s ongoing expansion into the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, which began with the opening of a branch in Japan in 2020. By providing local customers access to its 3D printing solutions and ..read more

Just one of the promising startups profiled in my recent “Emerging AM Technologies Analysis: 10 Companies to Watch” report for SmarTech Analysis, Fabric8Labs announced a massive $50 million series B funding round to develop its Electrochemical Additive Manufacturing (ECAM) technology. Raising that much for a manufacturing hardware startup is not an everyday occurrence, and this round stood out even further for a few reasons: the current economic climate, in which many companies are struggling to raise significant funds; that Fabric8Labs is still pre-revenues; and the high profile of the invest ..read more

Divergent Technologies, creator of the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) and parent company of 3D printed supercar maker Czinger Vehicles, announced that it has appointed General Peter Pace, retired chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), to its board of directors. Pace was appointed as the 16th chairman of the JCS by George W. Bush, and served in that capacity between 2005 and 2007. In its most recent announcements, Divergent has deliberately signaled the company’s accelerating expansion into the defense market. Namely, last month, Divergent touted its partnership with nucle ..read more

Korean researchers have developed a new 3D Printing Metal technology. The technology uses an arc plasma heat source but continuously deposits molten droplets of metal letting one print overhangs and other complex structures. The researchers say that their process has better mechanical properties than WAAM and can be mounted on a robot arm. The technology could potentially make metal 3D printing much more accessible and prevalent. University of Michigan researchers Mania Aghaei Meibodi, Alireza Bayramvand and Yuxin Lin have developed a shell wall concrete 3D printing technique t ..read more

It seems so obvious that it shouldn’t need to be said, but the activities of machines can only ever be, at most, half of what defines a technology. The remainder of the definition — at least half — is determined by human beings. With all the specters of AI, machine learning (ML), and general automation rearing their heads lately, it’s increasingly common for conversations surrounding emergent technologies to leave out the human component—except for the also still too infrequently asked question, “How afraid should workers be about being replaced?” In terms of trends involving positive symbiose ..read more

Ben Schrauwen was a Professor of Machine Learning who also had a few startups under his belt when joined Autodesk and worked on the CAD giant’s 3D printing software. He then started Oqton, a software firm later sold to 3D Systems. In this episode of the 3DPOD, Ben goes into depth with us to explain machine learning, AI and the opportunities there. I really enjoyed his explanations of machine learning and what it is and isn’t. He then goes on to talk about Oqton and the future of 3D printing. The post 3DPOD Episode 146: Machine Learning and 3D Printing with Ben Schrauwen, Oqton SVP appeared fir ..read more

Go ahead and take a deep breath because it’s hard to keep up with all the news about 3D printing for space. Thirty years ago, NASA began using additive manufacturing (AM) for rapid prototyping. Back then, the emerging technology was used to explore possibilities in plastic before building costly parts with metal. Fast-forward to today, 3D printing has gained popularity across the globe signaling new possibilities for manufacturing objects on Earth and in space. Across space agencies, national labs, and businesses, engineers and designers are trying out countless types of 3D printers that work ..read more