I-Form, a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre for Advanced Manufacturing, and Gallomanor, an online science platform, have launched a 3D printing competition.
Dubbed “3D Printing a Sustainable World”, this competition aims to ‘Shape the Future’ through environmentally-friendly ideas which replace conventionally made parts, pieces of art, or energy-based processes. The winning idea will be 3D printed and the designer will receive €500 to promote their concept.
Professor Dermot Brabazon, I-Form deputy director, explained, “3D printing opens up a world of possibilities, enabling us to make complex shapes efficiently for sectors as diverse as aerospace, medical devices and pharma.”
“Manufacturing with 3D printing can be a much more sustainable way to make things – by enabling parts to be produced close to where they are needed, as opposed to shipped around the globe; reducing the amount of waste involved in the manufacturing process; and enabling inventory to be kept to a minimum, with parts only produced as and when needed.”
3D Printing a Sustainable World
Headquartered in University College Dublin, the €22.2 million I-Form centre was established in 2018. Its areas of interest are: Digitization of Additive Manufacturing, Additive Manufacturing Process and Simulation, and Advanced Analytics and Engineer Feedback.
Since 2012, Gallomanor on the other hand has been running the “I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here” competition where thousands of schools students are connected with scientists and engineers, and asked to judge their professional work.
The 3D Printing a Sustainable World competition is open to residents of Ireland who submit ideas with one of the five following categories:
– Art, demonstrating how 3D printing can push sustainability through a sculpture, jewelry or other mediums,
– A new product, where innovation is encouraged to conceptualize a new eco-friendly idea,
– Rebuild, which displays the ability of 3D printing to create missing parts from broken or obsolete appliances, and
– Under-18’s, which shows the perspective of young people applying 3D printing; a wild card category which encourages entrants to “let their imagination run wild.”
Additive manufacturing to aid the environment
There have been several cases demonstrating the positive environmental impact of 3D printing. Last year, Nano Sun, a Singapore-based startup, opened a new factory that is manufacturing 3D printed water filtering membranes which remove pollutants from waste water. Also, on a much larger scale, researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU Eindhoven), have used 3D printing to develop Noah, an electric car built as a demonstration of future, greener car manufacturing.
Of the I-Form competition Dr. Ruth Freeman, Director Science for Society, SFI, added, “3D printing has the ability to translate an abstract ethereal idea into a physical reality,”
“As a judge [of the competiton] I’m hoping to see the intersection of science, art and engineering produce a physical object that changes, in some small way, our view of sustainability and how we take care of our planet.”
The 3D Printing a Sustainable World Competition entries close Monday 30th September 2019 at 5pm.
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Featured image shows a 3D printed art globe illustrating stereographic projection. Photo via Henry Segerman, David Bachman, and IMAGINARY.
