Service bureau PrintLab is partnering with Autodesk for an exciting new competition for schools. The make:able challenge represents what should be a remarkable technological journey for students and teachers as they are invited to use either Tinkercad or Fusion 360 software (both options are products of Autodesk) and 3D printing to make free, assistive technology with the following directions:
“Design and make a product or prototype that improves the day-to-day life of someone who struggles with mobility in their hands.”
This comprehensive challenge—and learning experience for students—is centered around an online toolkit provided for students, including a teacher’s guide and accompanying lesson plans. Students are expected to team up into smaller groups and use the toolkit as a foundation for increasing their design skills, especially in 3D—with the use of Autodesk products. More importantly, though, the competition is designed to help them find meaning in their communities, whether locally or online, as well as learning about how individuals must cope with disabilities and can use assistive technology for a better quality of life.
Make:able toolkits also offer inspiration through the following:
Stories and example solutions
Worksheets and a variety of activities designed to encourage a human-centered approach and teach empathy
Methods for encouraging design-based thinking for creating concepts and opportunities
Directing students to tell their story through their work
Designing, 3D printing, testing, and making changes to products
“Having supported hundreds of schools with 3D printing curriculum, we have witnessed firsthand some amazing student talent across the globe,” said Jason Yeung, Co-Founder of PrintLab. “It is our belief that this talent should expand outside of the classroom and be put to use on real-world challenges that have a positive impact on society.”
The key behind PrintLab and Autodesk partnering was to create an integrative program for schools to help encourage students in design and 3D printing, highlighting their work in both digital and AM processes.
“By participating in the make:able challenge, students will experience The Future of Making to help design and make a better world,” said Steven Parkinson, Education Manager at Autodesk.
Students ages 18 and under are eligible to participate in the make:able challenge, to be included in the following types of educational courses:
Design and technology classes
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) lessons
After-school programs
Workshops
Distance and remote learning opportunities
Teachers who register for the make:able program will receive challenge toolkits on September 1st. The teacher’s pack includes development resources and guided lesson plans. Entries are to be judged by a panel of experts in April 2021, with prizes including 3D printers for winning teams.
Challenges like make:able stress both the importance of using innovation and 3D printing to do good in the world, as well as the importance of STEM education for the younger generations. Many projects are designed to interest more girls in 3D printing—a powerful tool for STEM—as well as creating workshops and specific STEM apps for kids. Find out more here.
In Today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re covering a lot of business and a little medical news. AMFG is partnering with a top UK bearings manufacturer to help automate its digital manufacturing workflows, while Segula Technologies has begun an industrial 3D printing partnership with digital manufacturing company Multistation. Techniplas has completed a deployment of Sharebot 3D printers to its 14 manufacturing facilities around the world, and the winners of the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition have been announced. Finally, a pediatric cardiologist used the Sinterit Lisa to create a 3D printed model of a newborn boy’s heart to plan his risky surgery.
Bowman International Announces Partnership with AMFG
Bowman’s bearings
Automation software specialist AMFG, which recently launched a new AI software platform, has partnered with Bowman International, one of the top bearings manufacturers in the UK, as it works to grow its 3D printing capabilities through its Bowman Additive Production (AP) division. Bowman AP has several MJF and SLS 3D printers available for its use, and uses 3D printing to design and produce its end-part bearings, which has helped increase their load bearing capacity by up to 70%.
In the meantime, Bowman International’s goal is to use AMFG’s AI-powered production automation software to oversee production of said bearings, by automating production job scheduling, optimizing digital CAD files for production with printability analyses, and creating a custom digital part catalog.
“We’re very pleased to be partnering with AMFG and using their automation software to scale our already expanding AM facility,” said Jacob Turner, the Head of Additive Production at Bowman International. “Additive manufacturing is transforming the way bearings are manufactured, and we aim to continue to be at the forefront of innovating the production of bearings using AM. AMFG’s automation software will enable us to achieve this by significantly increasing the efficiency of our production processes.”
Multistation Partners with Segula Technologies
Another newly announced 3D printing partnership is the one between international engineering group Segula Technologies and Paris-based 3D printing company Multistation. The two are working together to further develop the potential of 3D printing in the industrial sector, which will allow both companies to increase their offerings and provide customers with excellent services along the AM value chain. Segula will bring its design, product-process qualification, and technology integration in industrial environments to the table, while Multistation will share and apply its expertise in AM design and simulation by determining any potential parts that could be 3D printed instead of fabricated with a more traditional method of manufacturing.
“Additive manufacturing is an integral part of a value chain within which Multistation provides a comprehensive offering; Segula Technologies was an obvious partner of choice to enable our Additive Consulting division to address manufacturers’ concerns more effectively,” said Yannick Loisance, the CEO of Multistation. “We will thus be able to supply them not just with software packages, machines and materials, but also with a more comprehensive range of high-quality engineering services that are suited to a host of different business sectors.”
Techniplas Adds Sharebot 3D Printers to Its Manufacturing Facilities
This fall, Italian professional-grade 3D printer manufacturer Sharebot joined the open innovation program at Techniplas, a top automotive design and manufacturing provider. Now, as part of its own continuing digital transformation, Techniplas has deployed Sharebot 3D printers to all of its 14 manufacturing facilities across five continents. This move will allow the company to 3D print the majority of the manufacturing products it uses every day on-site, which will equal major cost and time savings as Techniplas previously used only third-party providers for this task.
“With Sharebot 3D printers installed in all of our manufacturing facilities worldwide, we are taking decisive steps toward fabricating the majority of our manufacturing line assembly tools, jigs, fixtures, gauges and even robotic arm attachments in-house. Based on our experience with Sharebot printers thus far, we expect to significantly reduce our development time and annual assembly line tooling costs in each manufacturing facility over time,” said Techniplas COO Manfred Kwade.
Winners of the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Competition Announced
For the fourth year running, advanced manufacturing technology industry organization SME and Stratasys have co-sponsored the SkillsUSA Additive Manufacturing Contest, held during the annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville. The winners of this year’s student contest, which asks contestants to solve real world problems with 3D printing, were just announced. This year, entrants had to design an adaptive device for a veteran, who had endured a traumatic thumb amputation, so he could keep playing his PlayStation 3. Prizes include RAPID + TCT conference passes, SOLIDWORKS’ 3D-CAD design software, SME Education Foundation scholarships (for high school participants), a one-year Tooling U-SME subscription, and a MakerBot Mini 3D printer.
“The SkillsUSA contest is designed to help students and educators realize the power of additive manufacturing to drive innovation. This year’s competition was particularly meaningful as it directly resulted in enhancing a veteran’s life with a custom solution not possible without additive manufacturing,” said Gina Scala, the Director of Marketing, Global Education at Stratasys.
The high school winners include:
Gold medal: Getty George and Sam Green, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside, California
Silver medal: Noah Logan and Johnathan Urbani, Stafford Tech Center, Rutland, Vermont
Bronze medal: Andrew Daddone and Layke Martin, Frederick County Career & Tech Center, Frederick, Maryland
The college winners include:
Gold medal: Adolfo Vargas and Alexander Kemnitz, Central Community College-Hastings, Hastings, Nebraska
Silver medal: Deema Al Namee and Aric Donerkiel, Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center, Vermont
Bronze medal: William Swaner and Ashton DeZwarte, Tenneseee College of Applied Tech-Nashville, Nashville, Tennessee
Watch a video about the 2018 competition here, and check out the winning designs here; you can also view SME’s Flickr album for more competition photos.
Surgeon 3D Prints Pediatric Heart Model with Sinterit Lisa
“Delivering desktop SLS 3D printer for more than three years caused that our clients send us tonnes of useful and exciting cases. Writing about all of them is hard, if not impossible, but when 3D printing helps saving lives, especially those most fragile, we feel proud, and also a duty to share it with you,” Michał Krzak, Sinterit’s Marketing Communication Manager, told 3DPrint.com.
A newborn’s heart can weigh barely 20 grams, and fits in the palm of an adult’s hand, so you can imagine that surgeries on such a delicate organ are exceedingly difficult. Jarosław Meyer-Szary, MD, from the Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Congenital Heart Defects at the University Clinical Center in Poland recently turned to Sinterit’s Lisa 3D printer to save the life of Kordian, an infant less than one month old suffering from a potentially fatal heart disease called interrupted aortic arch.
Meyer-Szary created 3D printed, life-size model of Kordian’s tiny heart, and SLS technology was able to recreate each intricate artery and vein. The model not only helped him plan the surgery ahead of time, but also helped Kordian’s mother gain a more thorough understanding of her son’s condition. Kordian is now a thriving and happy 18 month-old, thanks to Sinterit’s SLS technology.
Discuss these stories and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the comments below.
Shanghai-based 3D printer manufacturer INTAMSYS, which stands for Intelligent Additive Manufacturing Systems, often makes the headlines for its reliable, industrial-grade FUNMAT 3D printers‘ capabilities in providing 3D printing solutions with tough, functional, high-performance, and high-temperature materials, such as PEEK and PEKK, ULTEM 1010 and ULTEM 9085, PSU, and PPSU, thanks to heated build plates, high-temperature nozzles, and breakthrough thermal technologies on active heated chambers.
INTAMSYS, which partners with many well-known companies around the world, operates several manufacturing and research facilities, and runs its own 3D printing service, provides solutions for many applications, ranging from medical, as in the case of this innovative PEEK knee brace, to industrial, such as making end-use parts, tools, jigs, and fixtures. The company is focusing on the latter for an exciting new event – INTAMSYS is hosting its very first competition this summer.
The Industrial 3D Printing Global Competition for Industry 4.0, focusing on a theme of Jigs and Fixtures, has officially launched, with entries being accepted up until August 31st, 2018. Over $10,000 in cash and prizes are at stake, so you should start preparing your entry soon.
Chun Pin Lim, the Marketing Director of INTAMSYS, said, “During our business visits in the USA, Europe and China, we’ve learned first-hand from our customers and partners that 3D printed jigs and fixtures in polycarbonate, nylon and PEEK have significantly improved lead time, worker safety and costs on their production floors.”
The aim of INTAMSYS’ new Industrial 3D Printing Global Competition is to identify and reward participants who can, as the company puts it, “best exemplify” the use of 3D printing solutions in terms of manufacturing jigs and fixtures, in order to achieve the best possible manufacturing lead time and cost savings.
This competition is open to any and all organizations, companies, and research and educational institutions around the world that currently use 3D printing to manufacture jigs and fixtures. When entering, participants must submit the following:
Full name of entity
First and last name(s) of team’s main contact person
Email and phone number, for award notification purposes only
Full address
Main purposes of the 3D printed jig or fixture and its dimensions in millimeters
Types of material used to 3D print fig or fixture
Competition entries must also include details regarding the cost, durability, lead time, and any other benefits of 3D printing the jig or fixture when compared to previously used fabrication methods. Additionally, entrants must include three photos – one of the jig or fixture being 3D printed, a photo of the fully printed object, and one of it while being used; check out this link to see sample photos.
The three competition winners will be announced on this site, and informed via either email or phone, on September 14th, 2018. The second runner-up will receive US$1,000, while the first runner-up will be awarded a prize of $2,000.
The winner of the competition will receive the grand prize: $2,000, a FUNMAT HT 3D printer, and 2 kg each of INTAMSYS nylon, PEEK, and polycarbonate filaments – all together, this prize is worth a total of $10,000, including global shipping costs for the 3D printer and filaments, which INTAMSYS will provide. Prizes are not exchangeable.
What do you think of this news? Discuss advanced manufacturing competitions, challenges, and contests, and other 3D printing topics, at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.
