The 3D printing conferences are coming! Proliferating like tuberculosis or a new dance craze or tulips in a Dutch field along a country road, 3D printing expos, cons, and neocons are taking root all around the world. Added to the list of niche technology conferences already established, we’re also seeing new 3D printing lecture tracks and exhibition zones. Last week, we published a story about an additive manufacturing convention devoted specifically to powdered metals attached to the annual World Congress on Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials. Now, the RadTech conference on ultraviolet and electron beam technology will be highlighting additive manufacturing as it relates to UV and EB printing.
This May, from the 12th to the 14th, Chicago will be hosting the UV/EB conference, giving particular attention to UV and EB 3D printing. The conference will cover the history of photopolymers in 3D printing, discuss advances in the technology and hypothesize as to the future of UV curing and electron beam melting. Also featured at the event is a session on design using UV and EB 3D printing, which will include a talk by the President of Made Boards, manufacturer of water sports products that rely on the technology to develop their clean and customizable boards. In addition to Made Boards, there will also be a number of big name companies present, including Motorola, Boeing and Nestle, among others.
The conference will be of great interest to those who are interested in the high precision and detail made possible through UV curable printing. Stereolithography and direct light processing printers are capable of producing some of the most intricate prints that I’ve personally seen. 3D prints produced on these machines can also be used for metal casting complex shapes in such fields as dentistry and jewellery making, in addition to traditional prototyping. If you’re in the Chicago area this May, it may be worth it to attend.
