In this edition of Sliced 3D printing news digest a prop maker is arrested on a 3D printed gun charge; we look at 3D models in high definition; and manufacturers expand to meet materials demand.
All this and more from Xometry, Relativity Space, Union Tech, Inc., ABB, Siemens.
Xometry goes high definition
The Maryland-based company Xometry, known for providing software platform for has launched a high definition version of its proprietary instant quoting engine.
Combined with the 3D visualization toolkit HOOPS communicator, Xometry software platform now enables the users to see the designs in clear and precise detail for manufacturability feedback.
Last year, Xometry secured a $15 million investment in a funding round. The funding round was headed by BMW i Ventures and GE Ventures and Highland Capital Partners. Earlier this year, Xometry acquired MakeTime, also a on-demand manufacturing platform, to move one step closer to its goal of becoming the largest on-demand manufacturing platform.
3D printed prop gun maker’s sentence suspended
Cosplayer and video game fan, Sicen Sun, has avoided jail time for 3D printing prop guns and advertising it for sale for a “negotiable” $1 million AUD on a Facebook group for swapping and selling military items.
New South Wales District Court judge, Penelope Wass, suspended the sentence acknowledging that never had the intention to sell the gun, he only wanted “his work as a craftsman acknowledged.”
Earlier this month Facebook banned discussion of 3D printing guns on news feed, messenger, and Instagram. Recently, the discussion surrounding 3D printed firearms has reached a fever pitch in industry as a ban was lifted, and temporarily reinstated, over Cody Wilson’s Defence Distributed.
New launches for Relativity Space, UnionTech and Siemens
Yesterday, California-based aerospace startup, Relativity Space announced that they will be hiring the veteran aerospace executive Tim Buzza as an adviser. Tim Buzza will oversee the launch of company’s launch vehicle. His duties will also include selection of a US-based launch site and the development of ground launch.
Buzza previously worked at Elon Musk’s commercial spaceflight company SpaceX for 12 years where he became the vice president of launch operations.
Last year, Relativity Space used its Stargate 3D metal printer to 3D print a large metal fuel tank.
Relativity Aeon Engine Epic from Relativity on Vimeo.
Brüggemann Chemical KG, a German chemical and materials company, is to spend €25 million to expand its additive material production capabilities. The company will install a new manufacturing plant in Heilbronn in 2019, to produce additive manufacturing materials, industrial chemicals and alcohols.
Continental Motors Inc., an Alabama-based aircraft engine manufacturer, has announced the construction of its new factory in Mobile, Alabama. The new project is estimated at $75 million, and includes a designated area for the exploration of additive manufacturing technologies.
Union Tech, Inc. has opened a new stereolithography demonstration Center in Chicago.
Robotic arm manufacturer and automation provider ABB, and Siemens have been named in FORTUNE’s 2018 “Change the World” list. The list chooses and ranks 50 companies around the world who have contributed to social change through their core business strategy. Additive manufacturing is listed as one of the innovation’s behind Siemens’ addition to the list. As the article states, “Building prototypes for machinery takes a lot of time and creates a lot of waste. Additive manufacturing, a.k.a. 3D printing, reduces both, and Siemens, which makes everything from locomotives to medical X-ray machines, has embraced it avidly.”
Imperial Mining Group Ltd., headquartered in Quebec, Canada, has started field exploration activities at a site in Crater Lake believed to hold great potential for scandium mining. If successful, the project is hoped to yield further materials for additive manufacturing, which has seen a growing demand for scandium-aluminum alloys in recent years.
Products of 3D printing education
Sastra Deemed University, Thanjavur, India launched its indigenous laser bioprinter named “Shristi”. The printer was designed and built by the Tissue Engineering and Additive Manufacturing (TEAM) department of the university. The printer will be marketed by the Indian-based instruments and technology corporation AIMIL.
Addition Design and Research, a Sheffield-based service bureau, has launched its first 3D printing training programme. The training course will be one day long and will be held at the Advanced Manufacturing Park Technology Centre, Sheffield, on September 20, 2018.
As always, 3D printing continues be the topic of many recent research papers. Here are some of the latest pieces that have caught our eye:
– Clinical comparison of conventional and additive manufactured stabilization splints from the University of Oslo and Tannlab Dental Laboratory.
– A fundamental study of parameter adjustable additive manufacturing process based on FDM process from the University of Florida.
– Addressing Unmet Clinical Needs with 3D Printing Technologies from the University of Utah and Boston University.
– 3D printed polyamide membranes for desalinationfrom the University of Connecticut.
– Interfacial Targeting of Sessile Droplets Using Electrospray State University of New York at Binghamton.
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Featured image shows Sliced logo over an ABB robotic arm. Original image via ABB.
