Research

Dry-ANM Microgravity Printing Campaign. Image via Colton Bevel et. al, npj Advanced Manufacturing.
Research
Auburn University and NASA Demonstrate Inkless Electronics Printing in Microgravity

Researchers from Auburn University and NASA Marshall Space Flight Center have demonstrated that conductive metal structures can be printed in microgravity without liquid inks, using a compact, self-contained system that generates, deposits, and sinters metal nanoparticles on demand. The work,…

Research
NSF Grant Funds True 3D Nanoprinting at UC Santa Barbara

UC Santa Barbara has secured $1.15 million from the National Science Foundation to acquire a nanoscale 3D printing system based on two-photon photolithography (2PP), technology that moves additive manufacturing beyond flat layering into true three-dimensional structures at resolutions down to…

NCAME Research Engineer Mikyle Paul, right, and Hunter Ryan with the center's VRC Gen IV Cold Spray System. Photo via Auburn University.
Research
NCAME Partners with 6K Additive to Close the Data Gap Holding Back Cold Spray Repair

Researchers at Auburn University’s National Center for Additive Manufacturing Excellence (NCAME) have launched a study with metal powder producer 6K Additive to evaluate how cold spray feedstock materials perform under demanding conditions, targeting the lack of mechanical performance data that…

Concept of a multidimensional metacrystal. Image via Stanford University and Aalto University.
Research
Aalto University and Stanford Test a New Architecture for 6G Surfaces

Researchers at Stanford University and Aalto University have built and tested a 3D printed panel that simultaneously handles six wireless signals across different frequencies, angles, and polarizations, boosting signal strength and channel capacity, with no active components of any kind.…

ORNL’s Steven Guzorek demonstrates the lab’s hybrid 3D printing method. Photo via ORNL.
Research
ORNL’s Origami-Inspired Process Cuts Composite Fabrication Costs by 90%

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory‘s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility have developed a hybrid additive manufacturing process that takes its structural logic from origami, printing directly onto flexible fabric substrates to produce flat panels that fold into finished three-dimensional components, without…

Hybrid bioprinting of hierarchical vascular networks at capillary-scale resolution. Image via Yanliang Zhang, et al., Nature Chemical Engineering.
Research
Hybrid 3D Bioprinting Achieves Capillary-Scale Vascular Networks

A collaboration between researchers at the University of Notre Dame and Harvard Medical School has produced a method for 3D printing vascular networks at resolutions approaching the size of the body’s smallest blood vessels. The work, published in Nature Chemical…

The team fabricated ball-and-stick structures resembling tiny lollipops. The structures were less than a millimeter in height, with balls that were smaller than a grain of sand. The balls were infused with magnetic particles. Image via Rachel M. Sun et al., Matter.
Research
New Method Embeds Independent Magnetic Movement at the Microscale

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a fabrication method for soft magnetic hydrogels that can be 3D printed into structures smaller than 1mm and activated remotely by an ordinary magnet. According to the research paper published in…

3D bioprinting of P. lunula-laden alginate bioinks enables spatially defined, chemically stimulated bioluminescence. Image via Giulia Brachi et al. Science Advances.
Research
New Bioluminescent Materials Sustain Light Across 4 Weekly Cycles

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) have built light-emitting living materials by embedding a marine microorganism inside 3D printed alginate scaffolds and activating its bioluminescence chemically. Published in Science Advances, the constructs were made using the dinoflagellate…

To move closer to a biological model, Mark Hersam’s team developed artificial neurons using soft, printable materials that better mimic the brain’s structure and behavior. The backbone of that advance is a series of electronic inks. Photo via Mark Hersam | Northwestern Univeristy.
Research
Unique Artificial Neurons Trigger Neural Activity in Living Cells

A team at Northwestern University has developed printable artificial neurons capable of triggering real neural activity in living tissue, according to a study published in Nature Nanotechnology. The finding matters because lab-built hardware isn’t just simulating brain signaling but producing…

A test object is 3D-printed using a new system to monitor for errors and correct them automatically while manufacturing large items made from plastic composite. Photo via Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Research
ORNL’s AI-Powered System Fixes 3D Printing Errors in Real Time

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have developed an automated control system that monitors and corrects errors during large-scale plastic 3D printing as they happen, no human intervention required. The development could give U.S. manufacturers a meaningful edge in…