Inside 3D Printing Chicago

Inside 3D Printing Conference attracted 3,000 attendees and top exhibitors like MakerBot and 3D Systems to its inaugural event in New York. Now, after months of exponential growth and tremendous 3D printing coverage in the news, the conference will head to Chicago this July 10-11.

The topic has piqued the interest and involvement of government officials like Congressman Bill Foster of the 11th Congressional District of Illinois who will discuss digital manufacturing and its connection to policy, education, and jobs at the event.

Greg Diamond of 3D Systems plays a 3D printed guitar in the exhibit hall of Inside 3D Printing Conference in New York City.

Industry players, innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors will meet in Chicago to discuss the impact of 3D printing on various fields. Speakers include Scott Crump, Founder and Chairman of the Board at Stratasys, Ralph L. Resnick, President & Executive Director of the National Center for Defense Manufacturing & Machining (NCDMM), and Cydni Tetro, Entrepreneur in Residence for Disney.

The event will even feature the designer and architect who created style icon Dita von Teese’s famous 3D printed dress to discuss 3D printing’s influence on fashion and art.

Sessions include Industrial Scale Additive Manufacturing Technologies, 3D Printing and the Future (or Demise) of Intellectual Property, and The Printed Athlete: How 3D Printing is Changing the Nature of Sports. View the full program here.

Cody Wilson, Founder and Director of Defense Distributed, discusses 3D printed guns during his session at the Inside 3D Printing Conference in New York City.

PERK: You’ll save 15% off your Gold Passport to the event with code ON3D. Register today.

Here are the top 10 most popular stories On 3D Printing brought you in April 2013.

10. Topology Optimization in Additive Manufacturing: 3D Printing Conference (Part 5)

9. The Crowd Loves 3D Printing! Kickstarter 3D Printing Summary

8. 3D Printed Phone Cases: UCreate3D Seeks Crowdfunding to Best Nokia

7. 3D Printing’s Apple 1 Moment: 3D Printing Conference (Part 1)

6. 3D Printed Fashion Show at London College of Fashion This Week

5. Sold Out: Play-Doh Kids 3D Printer and iPad App

4. Medical 3D Printing Breakthrough: Man Gets a New 3D Printed Face

3. mUVe 3D Printer Meets Funding Goal on Indiegogo

2. Inside 3D Printing Conference: Day 1 Top Stories

1. Practical 3D Printing: 10 Things to Make With a 3D Printer

Thanks for reading in April!

3D Printing News

A roundup of the top 3D printing news from April 22 to April 28:

(Note: last week we attended the Inside 3D Printing conference in NYC)

Monday, April 22

• 3D Printing’s Apple 1 Moment: 3D Printing Conference (Part 1)
• Keynote Declares “Complexity is Free”: 3D Printing Conference (Part 2)
• 3D Systems: Geomagic Design to Advance CAD and 3D Printing
• Invest in Bioprinting to Get a 3D Printed Ear or New Hip: 3D Printing Conference (Part 3)
• Demo Exhibits Open-Source Complexity: 3D Printing Conference (Part 4)

Tuesday, April 23

• Inside 3D Printing Conference: Day 1 Top Stories
• Topology Optimization in Additive Manufacturing: 3D Printing Conference (Part 5)
• Shapeways Funding: $30 Million from Andreessen Horowitz, Chris Dixon to Join Board
• Sculpteo Cloud 3D Printing, iPhone Cases, and More – 3D Printing Conference (Part 6)
• 3D Printing in K-12 Education: Virginia Leads the Way – 3D Printing Conference (Part 7)
• Shapeways CEO: Become a Creator of the Products You Care About – 3D Printing Conference (Part 8)

Wednesday, April 24

• Inside 3D Printing Conference: Day 2 Top Stories

Thursday, April 25

• GE 3D Printing Initiative Named Top 10 Breakthrough Technology by MIT Technology Review

Saturday, April 27

• Inside 3D Printing Conference in New York – A Retrospective

Sunday, April 28

• MakerBot Store in NYC Visit: 3D Printers, Digital Scanners, and More

Inside 3D Printing Conference

In a context that felt a bit like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, this week 3D printing went to New York for the first ever Inside 3D Printing Conference.  Over two full days at the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, a broad array of industry leaders, innovators, academics and analysts gave keynotes, led seminars, and showed off their latest products to over 3,000 conference attendees.  For many in the crowd, this was a crash course on a technology that has been exploding in the public consciousness over the past two years, and for others it was a chance to network, hear from big names in the industry, and get a sense for where 3D printing will go next.

In a role that seemed fitting given his company’s leadership in the industry and status as the conference’s primary sponsor, 3D Systems CEO Avi Reichental opened the conference with the declaration, “Complexity is free” in a 3D printed world.  Never before, he underlined, has a manufacturing process been indifferent to geometric complexity, and to him this is the single biggest reason 3D printing will continue to grow and expand into sectors ranging from education to medical devices to automotive and aerospace.

Much of the conference’s focus was on these different segmentations of 3D printing, and breakout seminars throughout the two days took a deeper dive in a variety of subjects.  Some of the more memorable seminars explored integrating 3D printers into K-12 education, topology optimization – a complex but very impressive design tool that appears to be a perfect match for 3D printing, consumer desktop and cloud 3D printing, and bioprinting human tissue for medical applications.  Longtime industry analyst Terry Wohlers and Shapeways CEO Peter Weijmarshausen also gave keynote addresses highlighting their vision for the industry’s future.

3D Printed iPhone Case from Sculpteo

Outside the seminar room the conference also had a distinctly hands-on element.  A bustling exhibit hall hosted dozens of booths showing off a variety of consumer and enterprise 3D printers along with more curious technologies like 3D scanners and novel CAD input devices.  3D printing service companies were also eager to engage with potential customers, showing high quality parts available for remote ordering online.

While many sides of the industry were highlighted at the inaugural Inside 3D Printing Conference this week, the underlying theme was very clear: while 3D printing technology may have existed in research labs and niche applications since the 1980s and ‘90s, it is only now beginning to truly change our lives in meaningful ways.  And from the number of times speakers said “Nascent,” “Just the first inning,” or “Only scratching the surface” to describe the state of the industry, it is clear that insiders see the eventual impact that 3D printing will make on the world to be profound, far-reaching, and on a larger scale than most casual observers can imagine today.

Authored by Brian H. Jaffe, founder of Mission St. Manufacturing and contributor to On 3D Printing.

Read our full coverage on the conference: Day 1 and Day 2.

Inside 3D Printing Conference: Day 2

Day 2 of the Inside 3D Printing Conference was exciting and informative. Below are the top stories from the day. (If you haven’t read it yet, here is our recap of Day 1.)

Topology Optimization in Additive Manufacturing: 3D Printing Conference (Part 5)

Topology optimization, a process inspired by bone structure research done over a century ago, is explained by solidThinking designers.

Shapeways Funding: $30 Million from Andreessen Horowitz, Chris Dixon to Join Board

New Shapeways funding! Shapeways announced a new round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. Partner Chris Dixon will join the Shapeways board.

Sculpteo Cloud 3D Printing, iPhone Cases, and More – 3D Printing Conference (Part 6)

Sculpteo is a 3D printing marketplace that is innovating on 3D printing services. We spoke with them at the Inside 3D Printing conference in NYC.

3D Printing in K-12 Education: Virginia Leads the Way – 3D Printing Conference (Part 7)

The Commonwealth Engineering and Design Academy in Virginia looks to integrate 3D printing to revolutionize K-12 education.

Shapeways CEO: Become a Creator of the Products You Care About – 3D Printing Conference (Part 8)

Shapeways CEO Peter Weijmarshausen delivers an update on his company at the Inside 3D Printing Conference, fresh off of a new round of funding.