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.

Shapeways CEO Gives an Update on His Company

Peter Weijmarshausen, the CEO and co-founder of Shapeways, a leading consumer facing 3D printing service company, started his keynote address today at the Inside 3D Printing Conference in New York with the question, “What do you really want?”  He went on to explain that the problem with mass manufacturing is forcing individual consumers to buy products that are identical to what other people buy, even though everyone has unique preferences.  To illustrate this point he showed a picture of a custom car.  “This is a labor of love, and extremely costly,” he said, pointing to the picture.  3D printing, on the other hand, makes customization easy.  And that makes it a very valuable service.

Shapeways Growth

So far it appears that Mr. Weijmarshausen is correct, as Shapeways is growing fast, and planning to grow even faster in the future.  Last year the company hosted Mayor Michael Bloomberg to open a new factory on Long Island, and just today it announced an additional $30 million in venture capital funding.  However, Mr. Weijmarshausen prefers touting slightly different metrics.  Today Shapeways has over 10,000 designers and over 300,000 community members that submit and purchase 60,000 new designs every month.

Yet it is not just the ability to upload and purchase designs that excites the people at Shapeways.  As shown in a brief demo of the ‘sake set creator’ app, the real vision is for consumers to be able to customize template designs in user-friendly applications.  Today it might be something as simple as a coffee cup or a lampshade, but Shapeways believes this is just the beginning.

The Future of 3D Printing

When asked what he hopes for the future of 3D printing, Mr. Weijmarshausen paused for a moment and then said new materials and larger scaling of the industry at large.  3D printing, as he pointed out, is still a very small industry.  The faster it grows, the more people will become aware of it, and in his opinion this will be good for not just Shapeways but also for consumers everywhere.

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

Shapeways Funding Grows by $30 Million

Shapeways, a leading 3D printing marketplace, has just announced a new round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. Partner Chris Dixon will join the Shapeways board of directors.

CEO Peter Weijmarshausen revealed the news on the Shapeways blog:

Today marks a milestone for Shapeways. On behalf of the Shapeways team, we are truly excited to announce a new round of financing of $30 million led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Chris Dixon joining our executive board. Our existing investors – Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, and Lux Capital – also participated in this round.

All of our investors believe, like us, that 3D printing has the potential to completely change the world. With this funding, we will grow our team, build more factories around the world, and solve challenging technology problems. Though many people have heard about 3D printing, we have a ways to come. We will make our service much easier to use. We will explore the frontiers of 3D printing materials, enabling YOU to make and purchase any product imaginable.

Shapeways also published this infographic.

mUVe 3D Printer Raises Over $12,000 on Indiegogo

The mUVe 3D Printer has raised crowdfunding, once again showing that the crowd loves 3D printing.

The project creator’s name is Dean Piper. He started mUVe 3D in January of 2013 with the idea of releasing and selling parts and kits for an open-source stereolithographic 3D printer. Now his Indiegogo project has met the funding goal of $10,000 with less than 24 hours to go!

Dean says, “I have a true passion for 3D printing and hope to show that to all of you. I have worked with and built 3D printers for over 5 years. This entire project was done on in my spare time while working a full-time job, it doesn’t feel much like work though. 3D printing is truly a wonderful technology and it deserves to be in as many hands as possible. It has become a mission of mine to make it affordable for everyone everywhere.”

Well it looks like Dean’s dreams are about to come true via Indiegogo. Watch his pitch video below.

Below is a time-lapsed video of a Gyroid Cube being printed on the mUVe 1 3D printer. The cube was originally 100mm but to save time it was printed at 80% or 80mm.

Another 3D printing project has launched on crowdfunding site Kickstarter and blown away its funding goals.

3Doodler is a 3D printing pen that let’s you draw real objects in mid-air. Looking to raise $30,000 on Kickstarter, the project has already passed $1.8 million in funding from over 20,000 backers!

3Doodler is the world’s first and only 3D Printing Pen. Using ABS plastic (the material used by many 3D printers), 3Doodler draws in the air or on surfaces. It’s compact and easy to use, and requires no software or computers. You just plug it into a power socket and can start drawing anything within minutes.

Below is the video about the project. You still have 26 days to participate in their funding.