Category Archives: News
3D Printing Advancements Leads to New Job Creation in Defense, Energy
In Dayton, Ohio, local industry leaders are working on plans to introduce new jobs thanks to advancements in 3D printing.
3D printing is rapidly becoming an integral part of the prototyping and production process for industries such as aerospace, jewelry, and dentistry. Now there is increased interest from the defense and energy sectors. SelectTech Services Corp, whose Executive Director is pictured above, is one such company that provides engineering services to the Department of Defense, and is incorporating 3D printing into its production process.
Here are details on the federal funding that is enabling this job creation.
The University of Dayton Research Institute is part of a statewide consortium of Ohio companies and organizations that are vying to win a federal pilot institute on additive manufacturing, said Brian Rice, head of UDRI’s Multi-Scale Composites and Polymers division. UDRI operates a reverse engineering and rapid prototyping facility with 3-D part scanning and printing capabilities.
President Obama announced the pilot institute in March as part of a $1 billion plan for a network of 15 “Institutes for Manufacturing Innovation” around the nation, serving as hubs that help manufacturers and encourage domestic investment.
Up to $45 million in federal funding has been made available for the pilot institute, which will support the Departments of Defense, Energy and other federal agencies, according to the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office.
Via Dayton Daily News.
This New House: 3D Printing and Constructing WikiHouse
Most 3D printed objects are tabletop size, but how about 3D printing a full-size house? That’s the idea behind WikiHouse.
Great story from Inhabitat:
We’ve seen a lot of cool 3D-printed objects in our day, but what about a whole house? That’s what UK design firm 00:/ took on when they constructed their 3D-printed WikiHouse at La Rinascente during the Milan Furniture Fair. WikiHouse is an open-source platform that allows designers from all over the world to design, download and share housing templates that are printed using a CNC milling machine or 3D printer. Hit the jump to see a quick video by Alice Masters, which shows the 00:/ team putting together the first ever zero-bolt prototype of WikiHouse on the shop floor of one of Milan’s most renowned department stores.
Via Inhabitat.
Inspiring High School Students to be Tomorrow’s Designers: 3D Printing [Video]
High School teacher Lesa Childers is inspiring her students to be tomorrow’s designers and engineers, thanks to technologies like 3D printing. In the video below, students from Notre Dame de Sion School of Kansas City showcase their project: a 3D printed fantasy castle with custom-designed furniture and decorations.
For this particular 3D printing project, Childers 3D printed a Castle she found on Thingiverse, and then assigned her students the task of 3D modeling small items of furniture they could then print on the Mosaic and then set into the castle. She gave various criteria as to the size, and watching out for material overhangs. She also create several video tutorials for getting up to speed on using SketchUp (first one here).
Castle photo from MakerBotShop on Thingiverse.
Via 3dprinter.net
Futuristic Medicine: 3D Printed Jaw Implant Rescues 83-Year-Old Woman
In a groundbreaking first in the medical field, a team from the University of Hasselt has created a method for using 3D printing to fabricate a functioning lower jaw implant that rescued their patient from a massive infection.
“The introduction of printed implants can be compared to man’s first venture on the moon: a cautious, but firm step,” said Professor Jules Poukens of BIOMED.
The patient was an 83-year-old woman who was suffering from a major infection in her mandible. Traditional treatments, such as removing the lower jaw, would result in greatly decreased quality of life. Luckily, this medical team of doctors from the University of Hasselt, Belgium, partnered with engineers from Xios University College, SIRRIS, Xilloc Medical BV in Belgium, and the department of Cranio-, Maxillo-Facial surgery of Orbis Medical Center Sittard-Geleen in The Netherlands to develop an innovative treatment using 3D printing.
“Computer technology will cause a veritable revolution in the medical world. We just need to learn to work with it,” added Professor Jules Poukens. “Doctors and engineers together around the design computer and the operation table: that’s what we call being truly innovative.”
Pictured above and below, Dr. Ivo Lambrichts holds the 3D printed mandible. It was fabricated using a titanium powder in only a few hours. Typical methods to create implants usually take days.
Within 1 day after surgery, the patient had normal functioning speech, swallowing and movement.
Congratulations to this team for their major achievement!
Via UHasselt.
Top 10 Countdown: Most Popular 3D Printing Stories in April
Here are the top 10 most popular stories On 3D Printing brought you in April 2012.
10. We explored innovative and strange 3D printing concepts, from chocolate to stone to candy to organs!
9. Former MakerBot COO is launching a new 3D printer called Solidoodle, with a $500 price tag.
8. The Forbidden City is cloned with 3D printing (photo above).
7. Hollywood’s storytellers turn to 3D printing, including Iron Man.
6. The lucrative toy industry is challenged by 3D printed generics.
5. The Economist publishes a special report on 3D printing, called “The Third Industrial Revolution“.
4. Google sold 3D modeling software SketchUp to Trimble.
3. We analyzed the market size of 3D printing creators and consumers.
2. Stratasys merged with Objet, and we captured the key deal points.
1. Leapfrog launches a new 3D printer line in Europe.
Thanks for reading in April!
