The Sanjay Mortimer RepRap Festival (SMRRF) has confirmed its 2027 edition for 6–7 March at the Dalton Building, Manchester Metropolitan University. Organized by the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation (SMF), a registered charity supporting neurodivergent young people in STEM, the event draws engineers, educators, hobbyists, and industry professionals over two days.
The 2026 edition attracted more than 1,300 attendees and raised £113,000 for the SMF, which channels those funds toward supporting neurodivergent careers in engineering and STEM.
Programs and Activities
The 2027 event is expected to follow a similar format to previous editions, combining hands-on public programming with industry exhibition space. Planned features include live 3D printing demonstrations, STEM and design and technology (D&T) workshops, 3D scanning stations, and 3D printed robot combat. Activities aimed at younger visitors, including children’s 3D pen sessions and chocolate 3D printing, are also on the program alongside talks, panels, auctions, and raffles.
A Maker Zone and Star Wars droid displays round out the community-facing side of the event.
Exhibitor Participation
Exhibitors occupy a central role in the SMRRF format, with space for live demonstrations, product launches, and workshops. The 2026 edition’s sponsor roster included Prusa3D, Voron Design, and Additive Manufacturing UK (AMUK), among others. The 2027 exhibitor lineup has not yet been announced; interested companies can request an exhibitor deck via the SMF website.
Open Source and the Community Behind SMRRF
SMRRF sits at the intersection of open-source culture and neurodivergent talent in engineering. Sanjay Mortimer, the foundation’s namesake, co-founded E3D and contributed to the RepRap ecosystem, a project whose impact on desktop 3D printing has been well documented.
The RepRap project, initiated by Dr. Adrian Bowyer, became a focal point for a distributed open-source community that saw open hardware as a path to democratizing 3D printing and making FDM technology more accessible. That broader movement helped shape the modern desktop 3D printing ecosystem, including companies such as Prusa Research, UltiMaker, and MakerBot, which emerged within or alongside that open-source influenced landscape.
3D Printing Industry is inviting speakers for its 2026 Additive Manufacturing Applications (AMA) series, covering Energy, Healthcare, Automotive and Mobility, Aerospace, Space and Defense, and Software. Each online event focuses on real production deployments, qualification, and supply chain integration. Practitioners interested in contributing can complete the call for speakers form here.
To stay up to date with the latest 3D printing news, don’t forget to subscribe to the 3D Printing Industry newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn.
Explore the full Future of 3D Printing and Executive Survey series from 3D Printing Industry, featuring perspectives from CEOs, engineers, and industry leaders on the industrialization of additive manufacturing, 3D printing industry trends 2026, qualification, supply chains, and additive manufacturing industry analysis.
Featured image shows SMRRF 2027 to be held at Manchester Metropolitan University. Image via SMRRF.
