3DP Applications

3D Printing Industry Review of the year May 2017

A month of celebration – in May we held the first ever annual 3D Printing Industry Awards and hosted a gala dinner of esteemed guests including Siemens, 3D Systems, Ultimaker, Zortrax, Desktop Metal, Shining 3D, Markforged, Zortrax, Sinterit, HP, Dassault Systèmes, DWS, Autodesk, Polymaker and UCL.

3D Printing Industry EIC Michael Petch stands beside Mohammad Ehteshami, Vice President and General Manager of GE Additive, holding the winning 3D Printing Industry Awards trophy for Financier of the Year 2017. Photo by Beau Jackson
3D Printing Industry EIC Michael Petch stands beside Mohammad Ehteshami, Vice President and General Manager of GE Additive, holding the winning 3D Printing Industry Awards trophy for Financier of the Year 2017. Photo by Beau Jackson

Morgan Morey was also announced as the winner of the 3D Printing Industry Awards competition for his “Additive Man” trophy design incorporating a model from the Scan the World collection with low poly elements.

You can now get involved in the 2018 awards by nominating potential winners here.

High-risk high-gain

May was also a big month for additive manufacturing in defence. The U.S. Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment Funds awarded a research consortium $1.5 million for the development of appropriate certification and qualification procedures for 3D printed metal parts.

A build plate of of 3D printed metal bottle openers made at ADAPT as a sample. Photo via ADAPTCenter on Facebook
A build plate of of 3D printed metal bottle openers made at ADAPT as a sample. Photo via ADAPTCenter on Facebook

The European Defence Agency commenced a project to asses the value of 3D printing in military operations at a new European Tactical Airlift Centre (ETAC) in Zaragoza, Spain.

Boeing and Aerojet Rocketdyne were signed up to complete design work of the DARPA hypersonic spaceplane aircraft.

And a team at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, published a paper of interest to high-risk manufacturing describing a method on adding deliberate mistakes to .stl files as a means of security.

Popular developments

In innovative applications, Local Motors 3D printed the first autonomous Olli bus. And Damen Shipyards announced development of the metal 3D printed WAAMpeller.

Then, in stories that took the industry by storm, 18 year old Rifath Sharook designed the “world’s lightest satellite,” and Northwestern University showcased the ability to 3D print functioning mouse ovaries.

Scientist holding a 3D printed mouse ovary cell scaffold. Photo via Northwestern University.
Scientist holding a 3D printed mouse ovary cell scaffold. Photo via Northwestern University.

Nominate the best 3D printing applications of the year now in the 2018 3D Printing Industry Awards.

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Featured image shows a view of guests as they arrive in Chelsea Old Town Hall for the first annual 3D Printing Industry Awards, photo by Antoine Fargette for 3D Printing Industry.