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TCT Asia: Ultimaker Introduces Cloud-Based Platform and New 3D Printing Material Alliance Program Partners

The TCT Asia show began today in Shanghai, and desktop 3D printing leader Ultimaker is one of the attendees. The Dutch company made some important announcements at the event today, including the launch of its future-ready Ultimaker Cloud platform, which was designed to support the professional 3D printing workflow and will help speed up the adoption of 3D printing.

As the world transitions to local digital manufacturing, we need a platform solution that will not only make the user workflow more simple but also hasten this transition, while ensuring compatibility with multiple materials and software applications. Due to Ultimaker’s open strategy, important industry partners, like material manufacturers and CAD providers, can integrate with its new cloud-based platform, which will offer more value to users and make the 3D printing experience seamless and reliable.

“Ultimaker Cloud forms the foundation for future value propositions provided by Ultimaker and key industry partners. This is a crucial next step in our journey to speed up the world’s transition to local digital manufacturing,” said Jos Burger, Ultimaker CEO. “I have no doubt that our enabling platform, formed with our global network of software and material partners, makes Ultimaker the preferred solution in the desktop space.”

The first cloud services the platform offers include remote 3D printing, which will provide monitoring and allow print jobs to sent from anywhere to network-enabled Ultimaker 3D printers. Ultimaker Cloud also provides unlimited access to the Marketplace, where registered users can browse materials thanks to exclusive access to print profiles, as well as give feedback to the community and plugin contributors through a rating option. In addition, optimized settings for ideal print results are automatically populated in Ultimaker’s Cura software through the Marketplace. Finally, Ultimaker Cloud offers a way to backup user settings for easier remote access.

Ultimaker Cloud will be available for download on March 19th, which is also when Ultimaker Cura 4.0, with its updated user interface, will be launched.

This new cloud-based platform isn’t the only news Ultimaker announced at TCT Asia. The company’s Material Alliance Program, which was established last year, has three new members: Polymaker, eSUN, and Essentium.

“The growing importance of 3D printing gives us – as a leader in desktop 3D printing – an important role in ensuring a perfect collaboration between hardware, software and materials. By offering material profiles directly to millions of end users via the Ultimaker Marketplace, we unlock new 3D printing applications for different industries,” said Burger. “Essentium, eSUN, and Polymaker and are well-respected material companies, offering unique material properties that are relevant for engineers working in a wide range of industries. I am proud to recognize their commitment to the Ultimaker Material Alliance during TCT ASIA.”

This means that there will now be more choices for applications and materials in FFF 3D printing, as print profiles for these three companies will now be available for download in the Ultimaker Marketplace. Users can just choose a material profile and quickly begin a print.

“FFF 3D printing remains the most practical and accessible of all 3D printing technologies. The three materials we offer via the Ultimaker Marketplace, including PolyMide PA6-CF, PolyMide CoPA and PolyCast, are among the most unique and advanced materials in our portfolio,” stated Polymaker president Dr. Xiaofan Luo. “I believe they will open up countless new applications for a greater number of engineers.”

L-R: From Jos Burger, CEO Ultimaker; Dr. Blake Teipel, CEO Essentium; Dr. Yihu Yang, CEO eSUN; Dr. Xiaofan Luo, President Polymaker; Benjamin Tan, VP APAC Ultimaker

Each new member of the alliance brings something important to the table. For instance, recycling is a topic that’s widely discussed around the world, and it seems like helpful initiatives are popping up all over.

“We are specialized in the industrialization of biodegradable polymers. We are delighted to join the Ultimaker Materials Alliance Program with material print profiles of PETG, ePA-CF, and HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene), since it allows us to speed up the development of eco-friendly 3D printed products by using renewable resources,” said eSUN’s CEO Dr. Yihu Yang.

So engineers in the electronics industry can benefit from FFF 3D printing, the materials used must be ESD safe. Now, print profiles in the Ultimaker Marketplace are available with just these properties.

“At Essentium we are committed to creating industrial solutions for the world’s top manufacturers and bridging the gap between 3D printing and machining. We have partnered with BASF, the world’s largest chemical producer, to create the Ultrafuse-Z line, which is a series of ESD safe filaments that are powered by Essentium,” explained Dr. Blake Teipel, CEO of Essentium. “We offer material print profiles for Ultrafuse-Z PCTG in the Ultimaker Marketplace, an industrial grade filament that is specifically formulated to be ESD safe.”

Discuss this news and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

[Source/Images: Ultimaker]

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Duke University’s 3D Printing Innovation Lab Allows Surgeons to Create Accurate 3D Printed Medical Training Models

3D printers in Duke University’s Innovation Co-Lab [Image: Innovation Co-Lab Studio]

3D printing is becoming increasingly more accessible and affordable in many industries, including the medical field. We often see the technology used for the purposes of creating accurate training models and simulators, so that medical professionals can practice surgeries and procedures ahead of time – this not only saves on costs, but can also allow surgeons to offer a better level of care.

Tawfig Khoury, MD, an otolaryngology (ear and throat) resident at Duke University, is focused on the latter, and uses 3D printing to improve patient care. He makes 3D printed medical models of the ear’s delicate temporal bones, which are later used for the purposes of medical training.

“One focus of my research has been taking CT scans of temporal bones, and printing an exact, patient-specific replica. Our residents can then practice drilling and performing other tests without having to work on an actual patient,” Dr. Khoury explained.

Tawfiq Khoury, MD, Otolaryngology
Resident

Dr. Khoury works on his 3D printed models at the university’s Innovation Co-Lab Studio, which contains a network of over 80 3D printers, ranging from MakerBot and Markforged to Ultimaker and Formlabs, that have been used for various projects since the facility began to really grow last year and explore new uses for 3D printing at the university.

“With recent renovations, we now have a state-of-the-art facility, with high-end equipment across an entire floor dedicated to the lab,” Dr. Khoury said.

“The Innovation Lab is a great example of how different departments across the hospital, as well as other healthcare groups, residents, and students, can work together to create something of value for the community.”

The lab, previously described as a “creativity incubator,” also includes 3D scanning equipment, CNC machines and laser cutters, digital modeling workstations, and a multitude of electronics.

Physicians from several of the university’s medical specialties, including cardiology, neurosurgery, and neurology, use the patient record system Epic to access an ordering system in order to have medical models 3D printed in the studio from ultrasounds and CT and MRI scans. Occasionally, the Innovation Co-Lab Studio can provide its 3D printing services at no cost if the 3D printed replica models are created specifically for patient care.

One of the 80 3D printers in Duke University’s Innovation Co-Lab Studio [Image: Cara O’Malley]

In order to receive and handle requests for 3D prints from around the world, the studio uses 3DPrinterOS, the popular online cloud management system, as a service to the university’s community. 3DPrinterOS users have access to an online, live-streaming video of the project while it’s being 3D printed.

Since the facility’s expansion, a wider community of users have been taking advantage of its services. The expansion also gives Dr. Khoury the opportunity to, according to a post by Scott Behm with Duke’s Department of Surgery, “set his sights on some short- and long-term goals.”

Dr. Khoury feels that 3D printing, even though it can already create accurate models for the purposes of medical training, can go even further at the university. Before his residency at Duke is complete, he hopes to set up an efficient system in order to assist patients with facial trauma who must have maxillofacial reconstruction surgery. His main goal in this is to enable the routine creation of 3D printed models for eventual use in implants for this type of procedure.

Someday in the future, Dr. Khoury believes that we will be able to rely on 3D printers as a way to create organic replacement organs or body parts out of bioink or hydrogel, such as an eardrum, which can then be infused with live cells and implanted in a patient’s body.

Discuss this story and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.