The 3D Printing Industry Awards are back.
Our annual celebration of everything related to the 3D printing industry is a unique event. The awards are open to any individual, enterprise or company active in the industry.
Winners are selected by the most informed people in our industry, you the reader.
This is a two-stage process. It is quite straightforward, stage one takes place during October.
Anyone can nominate a company, enterprise or individual in relevant categories. Those with the most nominations will be entered onto the shortlists, these shortlists then go to a public vote.
Stage two will run through November and early December. The winners will be announced live at the 3D Printing Industry Awards ceremony on Tuesday 13th December 2022. To make sure you don’t miss your invitation to attend, subscribe to our newsletter.
Today we open stage one: Nominations.
Instructions on how to nominate follow.
There are 20 categories, a description, and details of past winners is shown on the form below. If you want to nominate in a category, type in the details. If you have no nomination for that category, leave it blank and proceed.
The full list of categories for the 2022 3D Printing Industry Awards is also reproduced at the end of this article.
Enter your answers on the form below.
3D Printing Industry Awards 2022 timeline
Nominations open: Monday 3rd October 2022.
Deadline for nominations: 31st October 2022.
Award ceremony: Tuesday 13th December 2022.
Category details and past winners of the 3D Printing Industry Awards
Community Advocate
The Community Advocate of the Year category is made for people who demonstrate a genuine commitment to helping others access 3D printing and additive manufacturing technologies. This can be in a business sense, through supporting the goals of companies in this field, or from an educational standpoint – introducing 3D printers in schools or helping to disseminate knowledge of the technology through blog posts, YouTube or other video and/or other media.
Previous winners:
2021 Integza, YouTuber
2019 Lauralyn McDaniel, Industry Events Manager, ASME
2018 Nora Toure, founder of Women in 3D Printing
2017 Phil Hall, a teacher from Windsor Boys School in the UK
Sustainability in Additive Manufacturing
This category recognizes additive manufacturing applications or processes that contribute to sustainability goals.
A company, product, service, or application nominated for the Sustainability in Additive Manufacturing Award is striving to facilitate the preservation of resources and acting with due concern for the environment.
Previous winner:
2021: Fishy Filaments
Software Tool
Slicers, CAD/CAM/CAE tools, manufacturing execution systems, FEA analysis, simulation programs, 3D printer operation software – this award is for the digital tools behind the scenes that make 3D printing possible.
Previous winners:
2021 Materialise Magics
2019 Ultimaker Cura
2018 Autodesk Netfabb
2017 Autodesk Fusion 360
Start-up of the Year
To be eligible for our Start-up of the Year award, companies must have been operating within the 3D printing industry for no more than 5 years and remain unlisted on the stock exchange.
Previous winners:
2021 Slice Engineering
2019 Aerosint
2018 Additive Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) Ltd.
2017 Desktop Metal
Desktop non-FFF 3D Printer of the Year
Any 3D printer that uses technology other than FFF is compact in size and suitable for use on a desktop, worktop or other surface is eligible for this category.
Previous winners:
2021 Formlabs Form 3
2019 Photocentric Liquid Crystal Precision 1.5
2018 Formlabs Form 2
2017 DWS XFAB
Enterprise 3D Printer of the Year (Polymers)
This category is for polymer additive manufacturing systems used in industrial environments, i.e. a factory floor or engineering department. This category is open to any type of polymer technology, SLS, FFF/FDM, SLA, MJF, including high temperature and composite fiber systems.
Previous winners:
2021 Carbon L1
2019 Stratasys J750
2018 Markforged Mark Two
2017 3D Systems ProJet MJP 2500 & Markforged Mark Two (In the first year this category was split into separate awards for Enterprise FFF and Enterprise Other)
Enterprise 3D Printer of the Year (Metals)
Any additive manufacturing systems that can be used for the production of metal parts is eligible for this award. This includes all powder bed fusion (PBF), direct energy deposition (DED), and cold spray systems including those employing direct metal laser melting (DMLS), binder jet, FFF, electron beam melting (EBM), electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM), wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) or others.
Previous winners:
2021 EOS M290
2019 Desktop Metal Studio System
2018 Desktop Metal Studio System
Company of the Year (Personal)
An award for the companies who manufacture 3D printers and related equipment, for example, hotends, for use in desktop systems.
Manufacturers producing 3D printing equipment typically for use within enterprises should enter under Company of the Year (Enterprise).
Previous winners:
2021 Prusa Research
2019 E3D Online
2018 E3D Online
2017 Ultimaker
Company of the Year (Enterprise)
An award for the manufacturers of additive manufacturing systems or related tools that can be used within a professional environment, for example, in a factory or engineering workshop.
Previous winners:
2021 Autodesk
2019 GE Additive
2018 GE Additive
2017 XI’AN Bright Laser Technologies
3D Printing for a Better World
Launched for the first time in 2019, this award was made to highlight and celebrate any 3D printing applications that seek to improve the lives of others. This could be through a wide range of applications, including healthcare, construction, or other relevant uses of technology.
Previous winner:
2021 EOS initiative 3D Printing Against Corona
2019 3D Life Prints’ anatomical models for patient care
Material Company of the Year
A broad category open to all filament, resin, metal powder, polymer powder, or bio-printing material manufacturers in 3D printing or additive manufacturing.
Previous winners:
2021 Fillamentum
2019 CRP Technology
2018 BASF
2017 Polymaker
Academic/Research Team
The future of additive manufacturing and 3D printing is in the hands of university and private research teams around the world. This award is granted to those at the leading edge of 3D printing. Research projects, teams, and individuals considered for this award are not required to be at completion, but there must be evidence of research activity.
Previous winners:
2021 Creative Design and Additive Manufacturing Lab, University of Auckland
2019 Digital Reconfigurable Additive Manufacturing facilities for Aerospace (DRAMA) team from the MTC, UK
2018 Centre for Additive Manufacturing (CfAM) at Nottingham University
2017 Jennifer Lewis and the Lewis Lab at Harvard University
Medical, Dental, or Healthcare Application
Applications can be made in metal or polymer, using any 3D printing or additive manufacturing technology. Any entries must be specific to medical, dental, or healthcare markets, but do not have to be in commercial production.
Previous winners:
2021 The Satchi-Fainaro Lab, Tel Aviv University, 3DCanPredict ERC project, 3D bioprinted glioblastoma model
2019 BCN3D Technologies and the University of Girona for their work in breast cancer research
2018 Figure 4 and NextDent, 3D Systems
Aerospace, Automotive, or Energy Application
Applications can be made in metal or polymer, using any 3D printing or additive manufacturing technology. Any entries must be specific to aerospace, automotive markets, or energy sector (for example oil & gas) but do not have to be in commercial production.
Previous winners:
2021 3D Systems’ RF Filter for Airbus
2019 Cranfield University and WAAM3D’s 2.5m x 1.5 m rear frame for the BAE Systems Eurofighter Typhoon
2018 Volkswagen Autoeuropa, Ultimaker, 3D printed tooling
Creative Use of 3D Printing
3D printing is an invaluable tool for many designers and artists with innovative concepts. This award celebrates the creative flair of 3D printing projects conducted by designers, companies, teams, and individuals with designs that could not be made using any other manufacturing technology.
Previous winners:
2021 Adidas & Carbon Futurecraft 4D
2019 NERA E-Motorcycle made by BigRep’s NOWLab
2018 Black Panther Brisk Promotion, PepsiCo & Protolabs
Innovation of the Year
Independent of any specific machine, Innovation of the Year is for technologies that bring alternative modes of 3D printing to the sector. Innovations considered for this category can be the product of academic research and do not have to be marketed by a company.
Previous winners:
2021 3D Systems’ Print to Perfusion bioprinting platform
2019 Digital Metal, high-precision 3D metal printing
2018 High Laydown Technology for Material Jetting, Xaar
2017 HP Multi Jet Fusion
3D Scanning or Metrology Company
This category is made to award a 3D scanning or metrology company that makes a marked contribution to the use of 3D printing. Eligible companies are manufacturers of 3D scanning equipment that can be used in reverse engineering, cultural heritage, and/or non destructive testing.
Previous winners:
2021 Scan The World & Google Arts and Culture
2019 Artec 3D
2017 FARO
Value-added Reseller of the Year
For all 3D printer, parts and consumables resellers or distributors that go the extra mile in providing service to their customers. Examples of added value include the conduct of 3D printer training, full-service installation and responsive customer support.
Previous winners:
2021 MatterHackers
2019 3DGBIRE
Desktop FFF 3D Printer of the Year
Any 3D printer nominated for this award should use Filament Fabrication (FFF) technology and be compact in size, suitable for use on a desktop, worktop or other surface. Compact FFF machines operating at high temperatures and compatible with more advanced materials are better suited to the Enterprise 3D Printer of the Year (Polymers) category rather than the desktop category.
Previous winners:
2021 Prusa i3 MK3S Plus
2019 Prusa i3 MK3
2018 Prusa i3 MK3
2017 Zortrax M200
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