Shanghai holds a special place in my heart, being the home city of my godparents who survived the Cultural Revolution to come to the United States and help make me the person I am today. More relevantly to readers of 3DPI, it will be the home of the Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo next month, from November 4th to the 5th at the Shanghai Exhibition Center. Inside 3DP Shanghai will not only be the trade show’s first trip to the city, but it will be the city’s first significant 3D printing trade show and it should be an exciting one.
As with all of the Inside 3DP events, the Shanghai show will have an impressive range of speakers. Also typical of the series, leading 3D printing consultant Terry Wohlers – Founder, Principal Consultant, and President of Wohlers Associates, Inc. – will be one of these speakers. Alongside him will be a number of important executives and academics, including: Harry Kleijnen, Manager of Development Grids at Philips Healthcare; Wim Michiels, CEO of Materialise Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Vice President Asia Pacific at Materialise NV; Lu Bingheng, Academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, and Dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU); and Seok-Hwan You, Founder & CEO of ROKIT.
The exhibitors will also be quite extensive. The event will see string of desktop 3D printer manufacturers, like TierTime and FlashForge, featured with industrial manufacturers, such as Arcam, makers of 3D metal printing systems. As you’d expect, the exhibit floor will be teaming with Chinese companies: Aurora, a distributor of Stratasys 3D printers; EOS provider, UReal; and Bright Laser Technology, a Chinese manufacturer of proprietary metal 3D printing technology. There will also be a few Inside 3DP regulars, like industrial scanner manufacturer Artec and software and service provider Materialise.
Stewart Quealy, of Meckler Media, said of the event, “Inside 3D Printing Shanghai brings together a diverse array of additive manufacturing practitioners, industry influencers and international thought leaders for two days of unfettered discussion, debate and open dialogue. While Day 1 focuses more on broad regional trends and the global market, Day 2 shines a spotlight on vertical segments and disciplines such as medicine, aerospace, art, design, and the environment. Along with the largest mix of international exhibitors to date, Inside 3D Printing Shanghai features prominent seminars by Terry Wohlers Principal Consultant and President, Wohlers Associates, and Lu Bingheng, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor and the Dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Xi’an Jiao Tong Unoversity (XJTU).”
Tony Lee, from the Meckler Media organizing partner in China, Recycling Times, commented, “China is one of the largest 3D printing markets in the world. It is rapidly embracing 3D printing and sales of printers are expected quadruple in 2018, as revenues more than triple to $109 million. As one of the organizers, we’re pleased to introduce the professional Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo in Shanghai this November, the first of its kind in China. Industry players and fanatics will have a platform to draw lessons from over 20 speakers, 80% of whom are international experts. Also, for the first time, we’re organizing 3D printing buyer groups to attend the exhibition, offering a platform for buyers and sellers to do business. We expect more than 3000 visitors to attend the two day conference and exhibition.”
I wish I could make it to the event, as it would be a great way to get some in-depth exposure to the Chinese 3D printing space. If you’re planning on attending, you can get 10% off Two-Day Passports by entering the code “3DPI”. And if you’re planning on doing some site seeing, while there, you’ll want to see the Yu Garden, the Oriental Pearl Tower, and, if you’re up for a really long day trip, I also hear that China’s got a pretty big wall.
