Tag Archives: Belgium
Belgian Design Studio Unfold Features Beautiful Ceramic 3D Printing
Unfold ~fab is Belgian Design Studio Unfold’s Reprap and Personal Fabrication blog. Recently, they featured some beautiful ceramic 3D printing.
Below is a carafe and set of cups that was made for the design fair in Milan this year. These pieces were shown in a Belgian presentation called PERSPECTIVES at the Triennial di Milano.
The design technique is unique. Rather than using 3D modeling, the designer uses vector paths.
The carafe is a story an-sich because 90 percent of the design in actually not done in 3D software but designed straight in vector tool paths, only the basic outside shell is a 3D file, all infill and the folded structure are designed using our own custom software called Gcode Stacker which takes SVG vector files as input and spits out Gcode. Every SVG layer is a Gcode layer. This gives finer control over machine paths and enables you to do stuff impossible in 3D>Gcode toolchains like for example intersecting lines.
For L’Artisan Electronique, Unfold modified an open source 3d printer to print ceramics. Unfold created a virtual pottery wheel in collaboration with Tim Knapen. This pottery wheel gives visitors a chance to ‘turn’ their own forms. At regular intervals, a selection of these designs is printed in clay and exhibited in the space. In this time-lapse video you see the print process close up.
Read the full featured post at Unfold, where these images were sourced.
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.
3D Printing and the Runway: Fashion Gets Printed in Belgium
We’ve written before about fashion and 3D printing, but that story was about a single designer making a line of 3D printed shoes. This past week at the Materialise World Conference, a fashion show was held in which runway models showcased an entire collection of 3D printed haute couture accessories.
Here is a summary form Materialise:
Following a day featuring speakers such as Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, Prof. Dr. Vermeersch, member of the surgical team responsible for Belgium’s first face transplant, and Iris van Herpen, rising star in the world of Haute Couture, the Materialise World Conference put on a fashion show with a 3D printed twist. Making their runway debut were four hats from Brussels’ master milliner Elvis Pompilio, clutch purses and necklaces by renowned designer Daniel Widrig, and a collection of stunning pieces that redefine how accessories can be worn by Niccolo Casas. Also on the catwalk were the top 20 designs of a hat and hair accessory competition, the “Hat’s Off to 3D Printing Challenge,” which was put together by Materialise’s consumer division i.materialise. All of the designs were produced by Materialise at their Headquarters in Leuven, Belgium.
Via Materialise.
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