The 3D Printing Industry Awards has returned to crown the leaders in additive manufacturing, and we are now welcoming entries for this year’s Trophy Design Competition.
The design competition runs until November 2nd; the winner receives the high-speed AnkerMake M5C 3D printer; multiple prizes will be won along the way.
The competition is hosted on the file-sharing and design community site Thangs. To enter the competition, read the brief here.
Upload your design to Thangs and share it on social media. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #3DPIAwards and tag @Thangs3D, @3dprintindustry, @3DPRINTUK, and @AnkerMake.
In addition to the prize, your work will be seen by leaders across the industry when it is manufactured by leading 3D printing service provider 3DPRINTUK on their industrial systems and presented to the winners.
Voting for the 3D Printing Industry Awards is now open. Cast your vote today to make sure you don’t miss out.
You can check out previous winners below.
This year’s Trophy Competition is being hosted by 3D file-sharing platform Thangs, and will run until Sunday 5th November.
The winner will receive a brand new AnkerMake M5C 3D printer and will have their design showcased on 3D Printing Industry. The second-placed designer will receive a $300 gift card to Matterhackers or 3DJake, whilst a $200 gift card will be awarded for third place.
Additional prizes for the top ten include a promo code to join one designer’s membership plan courtesy of Thangs. This promo code can be used on membership plans (on Thangs) equal to $20 or less per month. Promo codes will cover five months of membership per winner.
Design brief and technical considerations
To be in contention for winning, competitors need to upload their designs to the Thangs website by 5 November. Entrants should also share their design with the competition partners using @Thangs3D, @3dprintindustry, @3DPRINTUK, @AnkerMake, alongside the hashtag #3DPIAwards.
Competitors are encouraged to design an eye-catching trophy that celebrates the unique design capabilities of 3D printing. The winning design will be 3D printed by London-based 3D printing service bureau 3DPRINTUK using SLS technology.
Specific design and technical considerations are outlined below:
| Minimum feature size | 0.75 mm |
| Minimum trophy dimensions | 75 x 75 x 75 mm |
| Maximum trophy dimensions | 125 x 125 x 125 mm |
| Minimum wall thickness | 1.5 mm |
| Minimum angle | 30 degrees for best results |
| Color | Trophy to be monochrome black |
| 3D printing technology | Optimized for SLS |
The winners will be contacted by email within five days of being chosen. Full details regarding the competition’s terms and conditions can be found here. Contestants can email any additional questions to [email protected].
Previous winners
Need some inspiration? The 2021 3D Printing Industry Awards Trophy Design Competition was won by James Novak, a 3D printing research fellow, designer and maker. Novak’s design was 3D printed in two different materials and processes (MJF and SLA), and featured lattice structures and internal details.
“I really wanted to push the complexity of both parts and ensure they were designed for additive manufacturing, not possible to make any other way,” Novak told 3D Printing Industry. “I also wanted the connection between both parts to be interesting and complex, so I used the 3D Printing Industry Awards logo to connect the lower MJF part through the SLA part and be exposed at the top.”
Ferran Sánchez Monferrer, then a Design for Additive Manufacturing student at Fundació CIM-UPC, won the 2019 3D Printing Industry Awards trophy design competition. Ferran’s ‘Optim’ trophy design won thanks to its elegant design that highlighted the unique possibilities and variability of 3D printing.
“The name of the trophy is “Òptim”, it is a Catalan word that means optimum. My idea was projecting optimization,” explained Monferrer. “The optimization of its construction and post-processing is what I was looking for when I was designing the trophy, without neglecting its aesthetic part.”
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Featured image shows James Novak’s winning trophy design for the 2021 3D Printing Industry Awards. Image via James Novak.
