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Dow, Dassault Systèmes, and ECCO Introduce New 3D Printed QUANT-U Shoe Midsoles

Dow, known for their historical innovations in chemicals, is lending their expertise to the ECCO Shoes’ QUANT-U line as they partner in creating a new system of shoe-making. Also collaborating with Dassault Systèmes, this power punch of leading companies presented the latest trend in materials, technology, and footwear in Japan recently at the ECCO Shoes’ Spring-Summer preview.

The QUANT-U customized footwear was introduced to other industry peers and experts, writers, stores, and fashion enthusiasts in the Asia-Pacific realm. ECCO’s independent cross-disciplinary design studio, Innovation Lab (ILE), heads up this new experimental line, offering customer-specific fit and consequent comfort—along with performance. 3D printing is the technology behind the project, and Dow’s liquid silicone rubber is the material making it possible.

Known as SILASTIC 3D 3335 Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR), Dow’s new 3D printing material is used to create shoes formed from the wearer’s ‘individual biomechanical data,’ featuring silicone midsoles that adapt to the customer’s shape and typical movements. This form of LSR was created by Dow specifically for 3D printing. Featuring a low viscosity, the versatile silicone results in smooth fabrication processes, accompanied by the requisite high resolution and accuracy.

The footwear team also expects its future customers to benefit from:

Elasticity and recovery
Optimized energy return
Cushioning
Added foot stability

Photo courtesy of QUANT-U

What also sets this new 3D printing venture in fashion/accessories/shoes apart from the others is the timeframe: less than one hour to create, in-store. Overall, the project between all entities culminating in the retail QUANT-U product took two years of development—with a recent press release stating that this brings together 50 years of footwear knowledge on ECCO’s part, and over 70 years in silicone elastomer experience from Dow. While SILASTIC brand silicone rubber was created by Dow over 45 years ago, this type of modern elastomer is helpful in rapid prototyping, the fabrication of complex geometries, and suitable in industrial applications like consumer goods, automotive, electrical, and more.

Photo courtesy of QUANT-U

“The QUANT-U collaboration showcases one of the infinite opportunities SILASTIC 3D-printable liquid silicone rubbers are opening up for designers seeking part design flexibility and the processing advantages of additive manufacturing along with the performance advantages of silicone rubber,” said Charlie Zimmer, global marketing director for silicone elastomers with Dow Performance Silicones.

Fashion and clothing designers around the world are enjoying countless new opportunities today thanks to 3D printing, and the same goes for a variety of different footwear—whether in ballet shoes, high heels, running shoes, or other unique products and projects like QUANT-U–which seem poised to change the face of shoe shopping for consumers open to progressive technology.

The QUANT-U shoes will be available for the first time from the general public on the 20th of April.

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

[Source: QUANT-U]

Photo courtesy of QUANT-U

10 Ways 3D Printing Played a Part in Education in 2018

3D printing is often used in education these days, whether it’s being taught as a subject or used to enhance another one. As we’re moving ever closer to the start of a new year, we decided to save you some time and gather the ten best education stories from 2018 in one article.

Siemens STEM DAY

The Siemens Foundation focuses on philanthropic efforts in order to continue the advancement of STEM-related education and workforce development, and has invested millions of dollars for this cause in the US. In early 2018, the Siemens Foundation worked with Discovery Education to re-brand its annual Siemens Science Day into a program for more modern educational opportunities: Siemens STEM Day, which is an opportunity for US schools to promote STEM activities for both students and teachers. The program, which doesn’t actually happen on one specific day but is a promotion of STEM lessons and hands-on activities, is meant to be used by students in grades K-12, and offers multiple tools and resources to help reboot STEM curriculum.

New 3D Printing Educational Initiatives

[Image: 3D PARS]

In February, we provided a round-up of some of the many educational initiatives that were looking to provide adults with a deeper understanding of 3D printing. Included in this round-up was a new online course for professionals by MIT, new 3D printing courses from the Sharebot Academy program, and a joint two-day training course in additive manufacturing from German consulting firm Ampower and full service prototyping and 3D printing provider H & H. Additional educational initiatives shared in the round-up were 3DPrint.com’s own Additive Manufacturing with Metals Course.

learnbylayers Partnered with Kodak

In 2017, educator Philip Cotton launched an online 3D printing resource for teachers called learnbylayers that offers lesson plans, project ideas, assessments and more that were designed by teachers for teachers. The site grew quickly, and in February Cotton announced that it had reached a distribution agreement with Kodak. The learnbylayers educational curriculum was added to the Kodak 3D Printing Ecosystem, as the company began offering the internationally-taught curriculum along with its Portrait 3D printer’s launch.

Renishaw Deepened Its Commitment to 3D Printing Education

This spring, Renishaw announced that it would be deepening its commitment to 3D printing education. The company established a new Fabrication Development Centre (FDC) at its Miskin facility in South Wales, with the goal of inspiring young people to pursue STEM careers. The FDC has two classrooms, staffed by qualified teachers and Renishaw’s STEM ambassadors, that can be used for free by schools or groups of young people for lessons or workshops. The FDC was actually in use by Radyr Comprehensive School students long before it was officially launched by Andy Green, a driver for Bloodhound SSC, a 3D printing user and Renishaw partner which also devotes many resources to education about the technology.

Ultimaker Launched New 3D Printing Core Lessons for STEAM Education

Lesson 1: Coin Traps

In April, Ultimaker launched its new Ultimaker Core Lessons: STEAM Set for educators. Eight free lessons, published under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, are included in the set, which can help teachers in informal, K12, or Higher Ed classrooms incorporate 3D printing into their educational practices and STEAM curriculum. Some of the beginner lessons include 3D printing a coin trap, flashlight, and penny whistle, and can teach young students important skills like how to align objects, using symbols to communicate ideas, and how to effectively work together on creative projects.

PrintLab Teamed Up with CREATE Education Team

UK-based global 3D printing distributor and curriculum provider PrintLab partnered with UK 3D printing company CREATE Education, a collaborative platform that provides educators with free resources and support, in order to support schools all across the UK with 3D printing. Each company’s educational 3D printing offerings will be combined in this partnership so that UK schools can enjoy unlimited access to full 3D printing solutions for the classroom, which will be locally supported for life by CREATE. Multiple initiatives came out of this partnership to support teachers, like 3D printer loan schemes, funding advice and resources, special training and curriculum workshops, and new educational 3D printing bundles.

3Doodler Introduced New Educational Kits

3Doodler has long supported education, and often releases new STEM-centered educational packages, including its latest classroom product line: the 3Doodler Create+ EDU Learning Pack and 3Doodler Start EDU Learning Pack. Each pack, designed for and with teachers, was designed specially for classrooms from kindergarten to 12th grade and includes 6 or 12 3Doodler pens (Create or Start, depending on the package) and 600 or 1,200 strands of plastic, as well as other tech accessories, lesson plans, and classroom materials. Additionally, the company released its 3Doodler Create+ EDU Teacher Experience Kit and 3Doodler EDU Start Teacher Experience Kit, which are designed to be trial packs for teachers who are thinking about introducing the 3Doodler into their classrooms.

Robo Acquired MyStemKits

3D printer manufacturer Robo announced this summer that it had acquired Atlanta company MyStemKits, which provides the largest online library of STEM curriculum in the world. Thanks to this acquisition, Robo is now offering educational bundles that include its classroom-friendly 3D printers, a supply of filament, one-year subscriptions to MyStemKits, and additional professional development and online learning.

GE Additive’s Education Program Provided Five Universities with Metal 3D Printers

GE’s Additive Education Program (AEP) – a five-year, $10 million, two-part initiative to provide 3D printers to as many schools as possible – chose five universities this summer to receive an Mlab 200R from the program. 500 proposals were submitted for this round of the program, and GE Additive chose German’s Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Ireland’s University of Limerick, the Calhoun Community College in Alabama, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and West Virginia University as the lucky winners.

3D Printing In Fashion Education

In a recently published paper, titled “Integration of 3 Dimensional Modeling and Printing into Fashion Design Curriculum: Opportunities and Challenges,” Nicole Eckerson and Li Zhao from the University of Missouri discussed whether 3D printing should be integrated into fashion design curriculum. The researchers noted that while 3D printing has been recognized as a major influence in the work of designers and engineers, educators in the fashion industry are facing a lack of time, resources, and knowledge to teach the technology to students. The two conducted semi-structured interviews with eight 3D printing industry experts and academic professionals for their research, and came up with three distinct themes from their data about why 3D printing should be adopted, and taught, in fashion.

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Eco-Friendly 3D Printing at the Center of Designer’s Latest Collection

3D printing has done quite a bit for the fashion world, allowing designers to create new geometries and textures that have redefined the runway. The technology also enables designers to create sustainable garments, and that’s a major focus of Ganit Goldstein, a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Goldstein recently launched a collection called “Between the Layers,” which started as graduation project. Seven outfits and six pairs of shoes make up the collection, which was made from 3D printed PLA and TPU.

Goldstein aimed to combine traditional techniques with new technologies for the collection.

“My work begins by examining the characteristics of the material, the qualities with which I can work with,” she said. “Working with 3D software gives me the freedom to test which boundaries can be broken. It provides the understanding that the connection to the traditional craft material will create a completely new essence to the original material. For example, the technique of 3D layer printing allows me to re-examine which layers can be added and what new connections I can create.”

Goldstein spent some time in Japan as part of an exchange program at the Tokyo University of the Arts. The country helped to inspire her new collection.

“I was extremely fascinated by the Japanese overall aesthetic and design, their very unique perspective and ways of looking at things,” she said.

She began working with upcycling, shredding second-hand fabrics and industrial textile leftovers and then creating new garments using a Japanese textile technique called IKAT weaving.

“The IKAT weaving technique enables me to make patterns from the dyeing of the strings before the final weaving process,” she said.

When she returned home to Israel, Goldstein developed her own weaving process using a Prusa i3 Mk3 3D printer, combining the printing with hand-woven layers. Sustainability is an important value to her, and she appreciates 3D printing for the environmentally friendly opportunities it opens up.

“The technique of 3D printing in fashion is a great sustainable tool,” she said. “It enables designers to experience wide-ranging creative freedom, whilst giving the ability to exercise complete control over what we print and create. With 3D printing, we are able to choose exactly which materials to print and how much we need, as well as the precise pattern we want to obtain, without incurring unneeded waste, a notion that is both empowering and impactful.”

Goldstein uses many reusable and recycled materials in her work, and would like to work more with recycled plastics in the future.

“Creating designs from recycled plastic is an ever-growing interest of mine and I would like to create a growing number of designs that utilize this material,” she said.

In addition to her own 3D printing and weaving techniques, Goldstein also worked with Stratasys to 3D print a pair of shoes, using a Connex3 color 3D printer. Lately she has been touring the world with her collection of 3D printed clothes and shoes, participating (and winning second place) in “Redress Design Award 2018” in Hong Kong, as well as in the 2018 “Arts of Fashion” Competition at The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco

“Working with the traditional methods, and combining them with new technology is my vision and my inspiration for my future works,” she said.

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3D Printing News Briefs: December 22, 2018

Starting with fashion news, moving to automotive, and finally on to business, we’ve got a short but interesting 3D Printing News Briefs for you today. An Israeli fashion and shoe designer just introduced a 3D printed collection at a San Francisco museum, while Bugatti just tested out its 3D printed brake caliper. Roboze has three new points of contact for customers in North America, and Titomic has signed its second MoU of the week for metal powders.

3D Printed Fashion Collection on Display

Ganit Goldstein, an Israeli fashion design student at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem whose work we’ve admired before, recently collaborated with Stratasys on her graduation collection, titled “Between the Layers,” which consists of six pairs of 3D printed shoes and seven 3D printed outfits. The high-end, haute couture collection was inspired by her time in Japan learning a traditional weaving technique called ‘ikat’ at the Tokyo University of the Arts, and all of the pieces were 3D printed on the Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer by Stratasys. The 3D printed shoes from Goldstein’s collection were unveiled earlier this week at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum as part of the “Arts of Fashion Foundation” International Student Fashion Competition, of which Goldstein is a finalist.

“Stratasys’ advanced 3D printing technology has opened up endless possibilities for my designs, enabling me to print any design at the voxel level in vibrant colors and a range of materials – all in a single print. This capability to control any voxel for any pattern has enabled me to design without boundaries and to combine 3D printing with traditional weaving techniques to create ultra-realistic shoes. For aspiring designers, the ability to fuse cutting-edge technology with traditional crafts is very exciting, unlocking the freedom to design without limitations of past years,” said Goldstein.

“With the knowledge I’ve gained while working with Stratasys, I’ve come to realize that 3D printing is increasingly becoming an integral part of design thanks to the unique design freedom achievable. For me, the key to good design is to first get an understanding of the traditional design methods and foundations, and then explore how I can enhance the essence of the traditional method with new technology. Not only does 3D printing accelerate the design process and enable reduced production costs, it also affords designers total freedom of design.”

Bugatti Tests 3D Printed Brake Caliper

Last year, super car manufacturer Bugatti revealed that it had created the world’s first 3D printed titanium brake caliper, which was also the largest brake caliper in the automotive industry, as well as the world’s largest 3D printed titanium pressure functional component ever produced. Bugatti worked with Laser Zentrum Nord, part of the Fraunhofer research organization, to develop the caliper, and vehicle trials for the part in series production were expected to start in early 2018.

Earlier this week, the Volkswagen Group posted a YouTube video showing an impressive test run of the 3D printed titanium brake caliper developed by Bugatti. See it for yourself below:

Roboze Announces Three New Customer Points of Contact

Italian 3D printer manufacturer Roboze is continuing its expansion, and this week announced the names of its three new points of contact for its customers in the US, Canada, and Colombia, which will help it create direct channels in the North American market. This news comes right after the company announced that it had closed its first funding round of €3 million to further develop its R&D department and continue its EMEA and USA market expansion.

Its first new partner is ImageNet Consulting, based in Oklahoma City with a total of 18 US offices. The company chose to work with Roboze because of its high quality 3D printed parts and ability to use flame retardant materials. Ontario consulting company TM3 is working with Roboze because it provides the best opportunity for its customers to use a true industrial platform. Based in Medellin, Colombia, i3D is an expert in FDM technology and was impressed with the high quality of parts that were exhibited by Roboze at RAPID 2018.

Titomic Signs MoU with Sino-Euro

L-R: Sino-Euro’s Cristina Cao and S.J. Liang, Titomic’s Jeff Lang and Vahram Papyran, and Sino-Euro’s Alex Zhao

The day after announcing its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China’s Lasting Titanium, Australia metal 3D printing company Titomic announced that it had also signed an MoU with Sino-Euro Materials Technologies of Xi’An Co. Ltd, a Chinese company that specializes in producing spherical powder for the plasma rotating electrode process (PREP). According to the terms of the MoU, which is effective immediately, Sino-Euro will be appointed as Titomic’s Chinese sales distributor and customer support for its Kinetic Fusion systems. It will also provide Titomic with an exclusive supply of its aerospace grade titanium PREP process powders, and develop new metal powder for the Titomic Kinetic Fusion systems.

“We chose to execute this MoU with Sino-Euro for supply of their high-quality Aerospace grade PREP titanium powders aligned with their 50+ years of material science research in titanium and super alloys,” said Jeff Lang, Titomic’s Managing Director.

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3D Printed Mycelium Shoe is Striking and Might Even Be Wearable

I can’t imagine walking in the new 3D printed high heels from design studio Ica and Kostika, but that doesn’t make them any less fascinating to look at. Called the Mycelium Shoe, the high heels’ texture does resemble some sort of mushroom, while their shape looks like a kind of curved shark fin sprouting from the ends of the wearer’s legs. More than one commentator on the design has brought up Lady Gaga, and they certainly are Gaga-esque, if not exactly something you’d expect to see on the average person. Don’t get your hopes up about seeing them in person anywhere, actually, because they’re being sold as a limited edition of only five pairs.

The silvery platform heels, despite their intimidating appearance, are designed for comfort – as much comfort as towering, shark fin-shaped heels can offer, anyway. Like other 3D printed shoes, they are customized to the wearer, who downloads an app and takes a series of pictures of their feet. The interior cavity of the shoes is then designed to perfectly fit the wearer’s feet. The rest of the shoe is 3D printed and finished using automotive-grade technologies, which is saying something – shoes and automotive technology don’t generally go together.

The Mycelium Shoe is the first piece being introduced by the brand new Ica and Kostika, which was founded by Ica Paru and Kostika Spaho. The shoe will be part of an ongoing collection called Exobiology.

“Humans have been creators since the dawn of time — it is our very nature — and we want our art to embody our evolutionary story from our past to our future,” the studio states. “Fusing the latest in 3D printing and data capturing technologies, we created not just a shoe, but a story of continuity and innovation, and this is our first step.”

High fashion isn’t often synonymous with comfort, so it’s intriguing to think about 3D scanning and 3D printing being used to make avant-garde, sculptural pumps like these ones wearable. So far, there have been two types of 3D printed footwear – that which is designed for comfort, like customized insoles and athletic shoes, and that which is designed for artistic effect, to show off the incredible geometries and bizarre designs that 3D printing is capable of easily creating and that other technologies might not be able to manage. You don’t often see the two types combined, and that’s true of all fashion – the more artistic-looking it is, the less wearable it tends to be. Might these shoes be the exception? I can’t say without trying them myself, and as I am not Lady Gaga, that’s not likely to happen.

The Mycelium Shoe certainly is something to look at, however – futuristic and almost dangerous-looking with its sharply pointed backs. I admit to being deeply curious about who the five people will be who buy these heels – they’re certain to turn heads if they wear them out and about on the streets. If shoes like these can actually be made comfortable, who knows – we may end up seeing more unconventional-looking footwear being worn by actual everyday people in the future, and 3D printing will almost definitely be a large reason for that.

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Fashion Designer Creates Both Attractive and Wearable 3D Printed Clothing

Lingxiao Luo

Often fashion on the runways looks good but is unwearable in a real-life setting, and that goes double for 3D printed fashion. Much of it is stiff and uncomfortable-looking, but some designers are incorporating the technology in a way that is both attractive and wearable. Lingxiao Luo of the Royal College of Art is one of those designers. Her work combines 3D printing with knitted fabric to create brightly colored, unique garments that feature 3D printed details and unusual seams.

Luo is pursuing a Master’s degree at the Royal College of Art, but she first learned about 3D printing as an undergraduate at the London College of Fashion. The pieces she saw combined 3D printing with mesh fabric, and she began to think about the possibility of knitted fabric combined with 3D printing. She bought her own 3D printer and set about developing her own techniques for melding the two methods of fabrication. She came up with three different techniques, in fact. The first is to use 3D printed patterns to join two different fabrics together, while the second is to print onto loosely knit nature-fiber fabric and felt the fabric afterwards “so that the contraction during the felting process can change the printed patterns and create 3D structure,” she explains. The third technique involves using a flexible filament to print onto tightly knitted elastic fabric and twist the printed patterns into a 3D structure.

“The techniques that I have investigated are unique, and the products made with my techniques have unique aesthetic and texture,” Luo says. “They’re much more playful and structural than traditional knitwear.”

She also says that her designs are “less plastic-like” and “much more wearable” than a lot of other 3D printed fashion, and they can also be easily washed and cared for, as any other clothing. She wants to appeal to consumers with both the aesthetic and user-friendliness of her designs, as well as the customization possibilities.

“With the engineering of knitting and printing, this innovation introduces a zero-waste fabrication to the fashion industry through the creation of customizable products,” she says.

Luo eventually hopes to work with a 3D printer company to develop fashion-specific 3D printers that can print wearable, consumer-friendly clothing. She plans to start her own business, as well.

“Based on this technique and my final collection, I’m planning to build up a business of providing high-end products and services for the designer studios, including technical consultancy, sample making, textile, and product developing,” she says. “My market research shows that the application of 3D printing technology in the fashion industry is developing very quickly, and the design studios I have interviewed showed strong interest in using my technique and products in their collections.”

So look for Luo’s work in the near future; if you’re interested in trying 3D printed clothing, hers is definitely a good place to start, with its wearability and aesthetic appeal. Some 3D printed fashion looks great, but as a gallery piece – Luo’s is well-suited to both the runway and the closet.

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[Source: Design News/Images: Royal College of Art]

3D Printed Designs Highlight the Miss South Africa Pageant

Recently, the Miss South Africa pageant took place. The winner was 23-year-old medical student Tamaryn Green, but the 2011 winner, Melinda Bam, also had a place in the spotlight this year. Since winning the title seven years ago, Bam has gone on to found her own swimsuit line, called Bambshell, which provided the swimsuits for this year’s competition. Bambshell designer Ciska Bernard created a series of beautiful, elegant bikinis with a special touch – 3D printed flowers.

The flowers were 3D printed with Selective Laser Sintering technology using the Sinterit Lisa, the first desktop SLS 3D printer created by Sinterit in 2015. The versatile Lisa has been used for everything from medical devices to firefighting tools, and lends itself well to 3D printed fashion, as it turns out. The flowers to be attached to the swimsuits needed to be extremely lightweight and flexible – like “a second skin,” according to Sinterit. Build Volume, the service bureau that 3D printed the flowers, used Sinterit’s Flexa Black TPU material, which provided the smooth, lightweight properties the flowers required.

“Most of our clients use hard materials like PA12. It becomes a standard for a broad range of industries. But fashion needs more flexible solutions. It is not so easy to find a dependable, flexible material that would be a perfect match for the fashion industry and available for 3D printers. But as several years ago only a few people believed that SLS technology could become a desktop solution, available for every company, now we would like to go forward with the range of materials,” said Konrad Głowacki, one of the Sinterit Co-Founders. “After months of testing, we are happy to provide two reliable products: Flexa Black and Flexa Gray.”

The delicate flowers show how far 3D printed fashion has come in recent years. It hasn’t been long since 3D printed fashion was mostly stiff and bulky and unwearable outside the runway, but advances in 3D printing have allowed designers to create small, lightweight and subtle 3D printed touches to fabric as seen at Miss South Africa – and even fully 3D printed ensembles as seen at Miss Globe 2016.

“Due to the fast development of 3D printers, 3D scanners, and modeling software, 3D printing is becoming more and more exciting and affordable for personal users,” said Don Vermeulen, the CEO of Build Volume. “With 3D printing, ‘everything’ is possible.”

The swimsuits nicely complemented the other clothing worn by the Miss South Africa contestants, a collection of Afrocentric designs.

“The contestants showed off the Afrocentric Beauty collection which showcases the colorful complexities of African culture in a celebration of color and bold prints,” said Bam. “Each print is custom designed for this range and incorporates a mix of ethnic, tribal and modern prints on voluminous capes, juxtaposed against the sleek silhouettes of the swimsuits.”

Beauty pageants are, obviously, all about beauty – not just of the contestants, but of the clothing that they wear. Each piece is carefully selected and designed to impress viewers. It’s hard to add too much to a bikini to make it truly unique, but the 3D printed flowers of this year’s collection were the perfect addition, made possible by SLS technology.

Don Vermeulen and Melinda Bam

Sinterit recently introduced the Lisa 2 Pro, a benchtop 3D printer with a larger build volume, easy operation and new, intuitive software. The 3D printer is expected to begin shipping in September of this year.

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[Images provided by Sinterit]

Upcoming 3D Printing Events Cater to Every Interest

If you’re looking for a 3D printing-related conference or event to attend in the near future, there’s no shortage of options, from Inside 3D Printing Seoul this week to the second annual Additive Manufacturing Summit in January, plus lots in between.

Additive International, formerly known as the International Conference on Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing, will be taking place in Nottingham, England on July 11th and 12th, with a pre-conference day on July 10th. The conference has been going on since 2006, and it’s always extremely informative, with this year’s event being no exception.

Topics covered this year will include using silicone inks to 3D print lifelike organ models; developing ultra-stiff, lightweight mechanical metamaterials; accelerating the development of additive manufacturing standards; printing in-orbit satellite parts; serial part production in aerospace and using innovation to handle post-processing issues.

“Additive International is really more of a summit than a conference,” said conference chair Professor Richard Hague. “It is all about bringing experts together to share knowledge, discuss ideas and to learn from one another. We pride ourselves on achieving a balance between industry and academia – presenting the very latest real world AM applications alongside exciting new developments from research labs across the globe. We don’t shy away from addressing the issues and obstacles that AM presents head-on. This honesty and transparency is part of what keeps our delegates, presenters and exhibitors returning each year to take part.”

The conference will take place at the Nottingham Belfry hotel and will feature a lineup of expert speakers, including:

Abi Bush, Field Ready
Paola Caracciolo, Airbus – Germany
Tiffany Chen. RMIT University
Alvaro Goyanes, University College London
Jonathan Jeffers, Imperial College London
Abby Juhl, Air Force Research Laboratory
Cindy Kutchko, PPG Industries
Michael McAlpine, The University of Minnesota
Florence Montredon, Thales Alenia Space
Alexander Powell, ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences
Anil K Sachdev, GM Global Research & Development
Mohsen Seifi, AST International
Christopher Spadaccini, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Iain Todd, Mapp EPSRC Future Manufacturing Hub
René Van Der Meer, Océ-Technologies B.V.
Ricky Wildman, University of Nottingham
Christopher Williams, Virginia Tech
Lijuan Zhang, National Innovation Institute of Additive Manufacturing

More than 30 organizations will be exhibiting as well; the headline sponsor will be HP. For the first time, Additive International also has a charity partner: Field Ready, which uses 3D printing to deliver medical supplies and other emergency aid in the field.

The pre-conference day, titled Business Innovation in AM, will feature presentations from 33 Innovate UK-funded additive manufacturing project teams that will explore business applications of additive manufacturing in the categories of:

New AM Processes
New Materials including Conductive Components
Med-Tech
Post processing
Hybrid Processes and Tooling Applications
Inspection Systems
Large Scale and Construction

Taking place at the same time, but online, will be a workshop entitled 3D Printing Fashion for Beginners, given by designer Danit Peleg. From July 10th to 12th, this virtual workshop will teach participants the history and basics of 3D printed fashion. On Day One, An Introduction to 3D Printing and Fashion, Peleg will share the story of how she got started in 3D printed fashion as well as go over the history of 3D printed fashion, more recent innovations, and the techniques, limitations and challenges presented today.

On Day Two, How to Design and Print Your Own Fashion Files Without Knowing How to 3D Model, Peleg will demonstrate the step-by-step process of creating design files without knowing 3D modeling. At the end of the session, she will review each student’s textile designs and send them off for 3D printing in her studio. Day Three, A Live Review of Participants’ Designs and Printed Pieces, will include an extended Q&A session and tips on how to proceed after the course.

The course costs $540 and is limited to 15 participants, so register today if you’re interested.

Another course will be taking place from August 8th to 10th in Frisco, Colorado. Wohlers Associates, Inc. is hosting its Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) course, offering designers, engineers and managers the chance to learn how to maximize the benefits of additive manufacturing.

“To stay competitive with AM, it is critical to give DfAM the time and effort it deserves,” said Terry Wohlers, Principal Consultant and President of Wohlers Associates. “Neglecting the importance of DfAM is a mistake that most organizations will not want to make.”

The class will be led by DfAM expert Olaf Diegel, and will cover topics including the consolidation of many parts into one and methods to reduce material and weight, such as topology optimization and lattice/mesh structures. Participants will gain hands-on experience by designing and 3D printing their own parts. You can learn more and register here.

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