The 3D Printing Industry Awards returns for another year to recognize the individuals and enterprises leading in additive manufacturing. To crown the winners, we are now searching for a new 3D printed trophy design through our Trophy Design Competition.
The winning designer will receive an Original Prusa MK4S Kit worth €889 and an abundance of Prusameters. These can be exchanged for various products, such as 3D printing filament, T-shirts, vouchers, and Prusa 3D printer kits. The competition is being hosted on Prusa Research’s file-sharing and design community site Printables.
Your design will be seen by the leaders of the 3D printing world – here’s your opportunity to impress the most influential people in additive manufacturing!
What are we looking for?
The winning trophy should, like the awards, celebrate 3D printing. What does this mean? Think about the geometric complexity enabled by 3D printing, the designs that are not possible with other technologies, and the lattice structures
You don’t have to include text in the design—in fact, the trophy may look better without it!
Past winners have avoided designs that replicate the traditional trophy shape. Instead, they draw inspiration from classical sculpture, architecture, themes of industrialization, the future, technology, or broader forward-looking ideas.
This year, the trophy will be made using both metal and polymers; think about how a design can use both and how the parts might fit together.
Design Brief for the 3DPI Awards Trophy
This year’s trophy will combine two separate sections produced using polymer SLS 3D printing and metal additive manufacturing. Designers should consider how to uniquely combine the separate plastic with metal parts into a trophy that showcases the unique capabilities of 3D printing.
The 3D Printing Industry Awards celebrate the excellence of additive manufacturing across all applications, verticals, and materials. Therefore, entrants should AVOID Desktop or FDM 3D printer-themed designs like nozzles or mini-3D printers. A conventional-looking trophy has never won the competition, so think outside the box to win!
We are grateful to our partners Desktop Metal, which will 3D print the metal insert using its metal binder jetting technology, and 3D printing service provider 3DPRINTUK, which will produce the polymer section using SLS.
Voting for the 3D Printing Industry Awards is now open. Don’t miss out, cast your vote today.
Need more inspiration? Check out previous winners below.
3D Printing Industry Awards trophy design brief
Past Trophy Design Competition winners have drawn inspiration from a range of sources, and have featured classical sculptures, architectural forms, and lattice structures. Entrants could consider algorithms, industrialization, engineering, geometric complexity, or other key industrial 3D printing themes.
The trophy will consist of two parts. The main structure, 3D printed with polymer selective laser sintering (SLS), can measure between 75 x 75 x 75 mm and 125 x 125 x 125 mm. The secondary metal part or insert will be 3D printed using metal binder jet technology and must be no larger than 45 x 45 x 45 mm. The interplay between these two sections is essential, so designers should consider how SLS and metal AM can be combined to form a unique final design.
Competitors are also encouraged to create an eye-catching trophy that celebrates the unique design capabilities of 3D printing. A trophy that is optimized for additive manufacturing and cannot be easily fabricated with conventional production processes will certainly stand out. Each Printables user can submit a maximum of five trophy designs.
Specific design and technical considerations are outlined below:
| 3D Printing Technologies | Polymer SLS & Metal Binder Jetting |
| Minimum Feature Size | 0.75 mm |
| Minimum Trophy Dimensions (SLS) | 75 x 75 x 75 mm |
| Maximum Trophy Dimensions (SLS) | 125 x 125 x 125 mm |
| Secondary Part Maximum Dimensions (Metal Binder Jet) | 45 x 45 x 45 mm |
| Minimum Wall Thickness | 1.5 mm |
| Possible Features | Overhangs, fine surface details, internal lattices and channels, print-in-place assemblies and moving parts |
| Finish | Trophy to be monochrome black and vapour blasted |
Who won the Trophy Design Competition previously?
Last year, the 2023 3D Printing Industry Awards Trophy Design Competition was won by RWB Designs for their Tilted Hexagon trophy design. Uploaded to file-sharing and design community site Thangs, the trophy was 3D printed by 3DPRINTUK using SLS.
RWB drew inspiration from the additive manufacturing space for their design, with each internal pillar having a unique shape and size. No two sets were identical, yet they all supported the trophy plaque.
“These pillars symbolize the combined efforts of numerous companies, individuals, and technologies that have contributed to the rapid growth and innovation of this field,” RWB Designs told 3D Printing Industry. “Although no two are identical, they have all played a significant role in the development of the industry.” This design was ultimately selected as the winner as it best fitted the brief in terms of form, manufacturability, and beauty.
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 using two different materials and processes and featured internal details and a lattice structure.
He sought to “push the complexity of both parts” and ensured that the trophy was designed for additive manufacturing, not possible to make any other way. He also wanted the connection between the two parts to be interesting and complex. To achieve this, the 3D Printing Industry Awards logo was used to connect the lower MJF part through the SLA part.
“For me, this was an opportunity to have some creative freedom and push some of the software tools that I don’t normally get to do in my research work,” added Novak.
Ferran Sánchez Monferrer won the 2019 3D Printing Industry Awards trophy design competition. Then a Design for Additive Manufacturing student at Fundació CIM-UPC, their ‘Optim’ trophy design stood out thanks to its elegant design highlighting the possibilities and variability of 3D printing. According to Monferrer, it was designed “to focus on the most classic features that can be seen in a functional piece designed with this technology.” Therefore, it included a Voronoi diagram for the tower and a lattice in its interior.
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Featured image shows a selection of designs for previous editions of the 3DPI Awards.
