The Coex Exhibition Center in Seoul is the most popular convention & exhibition center in South Korea and this past week it hosted the 3D Printing Korea 2014 Show, organized by the 3D Printing Industrial Association (also known as 3DPIA) of Korea. The exhibition forum was shared with the 22th Korea International Sign & Design Show (KOSIGN 2014) and took place over four days last week.
The combinations of the shows created a synergistic environment where members of both groups met, expanding the knowledge base of 3D printing and its application and uses in Korea. Popular media stories and business buzzwords are great, but nothing seems to resonate with individuals quite like seeing a new technology in person…and finding out about ways that they may actually use it.
3DPIA was established in 2013 and has currently brought approximately 150 business and corporate members together to work to boost the domestic 3D printing industry. To accomplish its task, it organized the 3D Printing Korea 2014 show to create a meeting platform bringing together companies and buyers, and to showcase recent trends in 3D printing technology through an exhibition and specialized seminars. Even before the show opened, local media outlets were heated, anxious to cover the show as a get-together and see how far the Korean 3D printing technology has come. They were not disappointed.
The beginning of the show was splendid. The opening ceremony featured a fashion show where members of the K-pop idol groups “A.T.O,” and “Girl’s Day” stepped into the roles of fashion models and took a walk down the runway. The theme of the fashion show was to express the harmony between traditional and current technologies. An iconic symbol of Korean traditional fashion, the ‘HANBOK’, presented by Kim Hyun Sook of the HANBOK INSTITUTE HONGDAN was outfitted with 3D printed accessories and worn by the models. In addition, the members of “Girl’s Day” were named as honorary ambassadors of 3D Printing Korea 2014. The following is a video clip of the opening ceremony:
On the second day, with the various exhibitions in full swing, several 3D printing seminars started. While there were many different talks on the national direction 3D printing in Korea should take, there were also several specialized topics of specific interest to engineers, researchers, and business leaders.
At 13:30 a surprise presentation was given by 3DPI’s very own Mark Lee who spoke on the “The Evolution of 3D printing…and Where We May Be Going.” As the Director of the 3D Printing Economic Research Center at Korea Maritime & Ocean University he had been requested to give an overview of the industry’s development. During his presentation, he reminded the audience of the evolutionary process that occurred in the early PC markets, and pointed out several key lessons that business leaders should bear in mind as this new industry develops. As a former lawyer he also briefly outlined several legal issues involving 3D printing that established businesses should not ignore…including the growth of the “Open Source” movement.
Following Mark, was Dr. Cho Dongwoo of Postech (Pohang University of Science and Technology) who spoke, in fairly great detail, about the biomedical applications of 3D printing and the work his lab is currently performing. I was fascinated by Dr. Cho’s talk and will probably try to do a follow up interview with him later, as it seems he is a key member of a select group of researchers worldwide pushing the boundaries of medicine as far as they can be pushed with the tools currently at hand.
Other speakers that day included Professor Park Gun of Seoul Technical University who spoke about industrial applications of 3D printing; Professor Ahn Donggyu of Chosen University who spoke on DED process for functional injection-mold development; Yoshio Uchikata of RICOH Co, Ltd., who gave an overview of the 3D printing industry in Japan, as well as many others. Needless to say, I was not able to attend all the presentations…there was just too much to see.
And as expected, the exhibition was filled with companies showing off their latest ideas and 3D printers. Companies present included; Cubicon from HyVISIONSystem, MyD series from DaeGun Tech which I have covered previously, a delta 3D printer from Doowon Precision Co., Ltd and 3D BOX 300 from 3D BOX Co,Ltd.
The hopes of many of the show’s attendees was summed up pretty accurately by the Chairman of 3DPIA Kuk Yeon-Ho when he said, “In this 2014 3D Printing Korea show, lots of examples and opportunities for convergence technology in inter-industries, of diverse fields, including education, medicine, material development, and other applications regarding 3D printing will be promoted. By doing so, new business models in 3D printing are expected to be created.” We will see. I don’t think we will have too long to wait.
Mr. Matt Kim, the show’s organizer and CEO of Story & Plan, a development and promotional organizer company, viewed this show as a great success. He told me that such an event is always a lot of hard work, but when things come together as they did, it’s a really great thing to see. I would have to agree.
