Tag Archives: MakerBot
Top 3D Printing News Last Week: 3D Printing Conference, GE, MakerBot
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
Thursday, April 25
Saturday, April 27
Sunday, April 28
MakerBot Store in NYC Visit: 3D Printers, Digital Scanners, and More
MakerBot Store in NYC Drives 3D Printer Sales
This past week at the Inside 3D Printing conference, the On 3D Printing team was invited to a special event at the MakerBot Store in NYC, along with other industry press.
We asked MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis what’s the next big thing he’s working on? He answered immediately, “3D scanners.” MakerBot announced its Digitizer product at SXSW and has a booth where you can digitize your own head. We gave it a try and our 3D printed profile is on order. See the photo below of one of the visitors scanning his head in the booth.
MakerBot’s motivation to open the store is to give potential customers a chance to see 3D printing in action. Does it increase sales of printers? “Absolutely,” one of the MakerBot employees told us. There is a certain magic to seeing a 3D printed robot or digitized head. You can immediately imagine what you might 3D print yourself.
We met some great entrepreneurs at the event as well, including the founder of Square Helper who prints his products on MakerBot 3D printers.
Below is a photo gallery from our visit.
Demo Exhibits Open-Source Complexity: 3D Printing Conference (Part 4)
3D Printing Conference: Complexity is Free, or Costly?
Brian Evans, Metropolitan State University of Denver professor and 3D printing educator, struggled to get a 3D printing demo to work at today’s Inside 3D Printing Conference in New York City. Showing conference attendees the multitude of open-source 3D CAD and slicing software available, he also exposed the complexity facing those choosing to go the low-cost, open-source route to consumer 3D printing.
“Fail early and fail often,” he sheepishly said to the crowd when his part failed to begin printing. “This is the challenge of using open-source,” he admitted. Mr. Evans also praised higher end consumer 3D printer MakerBot for its easy-to-use user experience.
When asked which slicing software he recommended for slicing 3D files for 3D printing, he responded, “It depends on how dedicated you are. If you really like to tinker, I’d go with Slic3r.” Otherwise he recommends finding another program that takes some of the complexity out.
Authored by Brian H. Jaffe, founder of Mission St. Manufacturing and contributor to On 3D Printing.
Portland Made Launch Party: Mayor, Music, and MakerBot
Portland Made Launch Party
Craft, art, creativity, and innovation are alive and well in Portland. Manufacturing is back!
Portland Made is a collective of Portland based designers, local goods retailers, and manufacturers. Their mission is to connect consumers to unique, local, and high quality goods and help reconnect designers to the manufacturing process.
Last night, Portland Made hosted their official launch party. Portland Mayor Charlie Hales and State Representative Jules Bailey were in attendance to share their comments.
It was a great event with food from Salt, Fire & Time and beer brewed for the occasion by F.H. Steinbart will be provided. Merit Badge mixed cocktails with local liquors. DJ Leftovers provided the sounds to celebrate Portland’s creative and manufacturing economy.
We were there as well. There was a great vibe. It felt like old world manufacturing gets a MakerBot 3D printer and Arduino lab.
Watch their launch video below.
Inside 3D Printing Conference Is Next Week – Discount Available
Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo kicks off next week, April 22-23, in New York City. This is the first conference of its kind in the region and several of the industry’s heavy hitters will be present.
Attendees will hear presentations on 3D printing’s impact on daily life, education, food, engineering, design, architecture, manufacturing, firearms, fashion, and business, while networking with professionals from 3D Systems, Shapeways, MakerBot, Solidoodle, and more. View the full agenda here.
Speakers include Hod Lipson of Cornell University who co-authored Fabricated: The World of 3D Printing, Hugh Evans III of T. Rowe Price Associates, Brett Lyons of Boeing, Gonzalo Martinez of Autodesk, Jennifer Ritter of Estee Lauder, and Ofer Shochet of Stratasys. View the full speaker list here.
The conference’s two full days of tutorials and seminars will provide attendees with a blueprint for how to invest and utilize 3D printing in coming years, while the exhibit hall will showcase the latest 3D printers and services.
Use On 3D Printing’s exclusive discount code: PRINT for 15% off a full-conference pass. Avoid on-site prices and register by April 21.
