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3D Printing Webinar and Virtual Event Roundup, July 19, 2020

A variety of topics will be covered in this week’s webinar and virtual event roundup, including additive manufacturing in aerospace, CAMWorks, product management, post-processing, and more. Read on to learn more about, and register for, these online opportunities.

AM in Aerospace Virtual Panel

On Tuesday, July 21st, Women in 3D Printing (Wi3DP) will host the third event, “Additive Manufacturing for Aerospace”, in its virtual panel series. Sponsored by AlphaSTAR and Link3D, the panel will focus on how AM is used in the aerospace industry. Moderated by AM-Cubed founder Kristin Mulherin, the speakers are Anna Tomzynska, Director and Additive Manufacturing Chief Engineer for Boeing; Deb Whitis, GE Aviation Chief Engineer; and Eliana Fu, Senior Engineer, Additive Technologies, at Relativity Space.

Pre-registration will begin at 11 am EST, with a welcome speech at 11:25. The hour-long panel will begin at 11:30, with plenty of time for live Q&A, and there will be a virtual networking reception at 12:30. Register for the virtual panel here.

3DEO Webinar – Why I Switched From CNC Machining

Also on July 21st, metal 3D printing company 3DEO is hosting a live webinar, entitled “Why I Switched From CNC Machining: An Engineer’s Perspective on Transitioning to Metal 3D Printing.” The webinar, which starts at 1 pm EST, will feature 3DEO Applications Engineer Julien Cohen, who will explain the major differences between metal 3D printing and CNC machining. The following topics will be covered:

  • Compare CNC machining and 3DEO’s proprietary metal 3D printing process

  • Understand the value metal 3D printing offers engineers in design and flexibility

  • Learn about the pros and cons of each process and when metal 3D printing makes sense

  • Discover three real-world case studies of 3DEO winning versus CNC machining

  • See 3DEO’s process for going from first articles to production

You can register for the webinar on 3DEO’s website.

Free CAMWorks Webinar Series

To make sure professionals in the CAM industry have easy access to educational and training materials during the COVID-19 crisis, a free CAMWorks webinar series has been launched. Each session will give attendees the opportunity to increase their CAM skills, learning about more advanced features that can help maintain business operations. “SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks: Getting Started” is on Tuesday, July 21st, at 10:30 am EST, and will be a training session on using the integrated CNC programming system SOLIDWORKS CAM Standard. It will also provide an introduction to the Technology Database (TechDB), which can automate the CNC programming process. “SOLIDWORKS CAM for Designers: A Path to Better Designs” will also take place on July 21st, at 2 pm EST, and will focus on how to use SOLIDWORKS CAM to reduce cost, improve design, and make it easier to manufacture parts.

You’ll need to attend the “Getting Started” webinar before attending “SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks: Getting Started with the TechDB” on Thursday, July 23rd at 10:30 am EST. This is a more in-depth training session for using the TechDB included in SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks. The final webinar in the series is “The Future of Manufacturing in the COVID Era,” also held on July 23rd, at 2 pm EST. This session will help attendees learn how to automate part programming to stay productive and competitive during and after the pandemic.

Protolabs Webinar: HP’s Multi Jet Fusion

On Wednesday, July 22nd, at 2 pm EST, Protolabs will be hosting a webinar with HP, called “Tips and Tricks to Leverage Multi Jet Fusion in your Product Development Cycle.” One of the company’s Applications Engineers, Joe Cretella, and Brent Ewald, HP’s Solution Architect, will discuss design tips that result in good MJF parts, how to implement the technology, and where MJF fits within additive and subtractive manufacturing.

“This webinar will help attendees understand how the HP Multi Jet Fusion technology 3D printing process can be leveraged in various stages of the product development lifecycle. The experts at HP and Protolabs have teamed up to give you key insights into Multi Jet Fusion materials, processing capabilities, and part quality. Whether the attendee is new to additive manufacturing or evaluating Multi Jet Fusion for their production project, this presentation will help identify when the technology provides the most value and what to consider when manufacturing Multi Jet Fusion parts.”

Register for the webinar here.

Dassault Systèmes on Project Management Solutions

At 10 am EST on Thursday, July 23rd, Dassault Systèmes will hold a live webinar,”Discover How to Deliver Projects on Time and Under Budget, a Real-time Online Experience,” all about collaborating with integrated project management solutions connected to 3D engineering data in order to drive project success. Dassault speakers Maximilian Behre, the Online Industry Business Consultant Director, and 3DS Industry Process Consultants Siddharth Sharma and Alessandro Tolio, will discuss project management challenges, shortening the design cycle through the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, provide a demonstration of Project Management on the cloud, and answer questions.

“Whether you are managing big programs that involve hundreds of people or are leading a smaller project, an easy to use integrated project management solution will help you to seamlessly collaborate across all disciplines with any stakeholder. Connect the dots between Marketing, Engineering to Manufacturing and customer services.”

Register here.

KEX Knowledge Exchange on Post-Processing

Finally, former Fraunhofer IPT spinoff KEX Knowledge Exchange AG is holding its second webinar on its KEX.net web platform, “Online Seminar Post-Processing for Additive Manufacturing,” on Thursday, July 23rd. Lea Eilert, the project and technology manager for the ACAM Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing, will teach attendees about typical heat treatment for AM materials, the necessity of post-processing for 3D printed components, and various post-machining and surface finishing methods.

Register for the webinar here. In addition, Eilert will also present the third KEX webinar on August 6th, entitled “Market, Costs & Innovation.”

Will you attend any of these events and webinars, or have news to share about future ones? Let us know! 

The post 3D Printing Webinar and Virtual Event Roundup, July 19, 2020 appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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Newborns with Cleft Lip and Cleft Palates to be Helped Through 3D Printing

It’s scary to think about newborn babies undergoing surgeries and other medical procedures, but 3D printing has come into play several times to help make these successful. Now, the technology is being used again to help newborns with cleft lip and palates (CLP) in a new study conducted by the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

According to the study, nasoalveolar molding (NAM) is a “presurgical orthofacial treatment modality” for newborns afflicted with CLP. The method uses a plastic plate to reshape an infant’s gums, nostrils, and lip before undergoing the actual CLP surgery. The plate is inserted and adjusted according to the child’s alveolar development, and then a nasal stent is used to extend the plate during treatment. The technique is considered complete once the primary surgical closure of the lip is performed.

RapidNAM device in frontal (A) and dorsal (B) view.

While NAM does work, the treatment is lengthy, with many weekly adjustments; it also requires that several impressions be taken when the baby needs new plates, and the treatment modality is only offered in special centers. However, by introducing CAD/CAM technology and 3D printing into the NAM treatment, the amount of impression-taking, along with the cost of the treatment, can be decreased, and the production modality is better facilitated.

A team of researchers based at TUM recently published a paper, titled “A semi-automated virtual workflow solution for the design and production of intraoral molding plates using additive manufacturing: the first clinical results of a pilot-study,” in the Nature journal.

Graphical User Interface for the design of RapidNAM devices. (A) Automated detection of alveolar crest. (B) Selection of bridging area. (C) Gap closure. (D) Pin positioning. (E) Virtual plate.

The abstract reads, “Computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology has been implemented in the treatment of cleft lip and palates (CLP) by several research groups. This pilot study presents a technique that combines intraoral molding with a semi-automated plate generation and 3D-printing. The clinical results of two intraoral molding approaches are compared. This is the first clinical investigation of semi-automated intraoral molding. Our study included newborns with unilateral CLP. Plaster models were digitalized and measured by two independent observers. Two methods of CAD/CAM-assisted intraoral molding were compared: (i) stepwise manual design of molding plates (conventional CAD/CAM-intraoral molding) and (ii) a semi-automated approach with an automated detection of alveolar ridges (called RapidNAM) assisted by a graphical user interface (GUI). Both approaches significantly narrowed the clefts and resulted in a harmonic alveolar crest alignment. The GUI was easy to use and generated intraoral molding devices within minutes. The presented design solution is an efficient technical refinement with good clinical results. The semi-automated plate generation with a feasible GUI is fast but allows individual adaptations. This promising technique might facilitate and foster the more widespread use of CAD/CAM-technology in intraoral molding therapy.”

In their study, the researchers described their virtual workflow, and also analyzed how effective semi-automated intraoral molding plate generation, or RapidNAM, is for helping to treat CLP.

“Healthy newborns with unilateral CLP (n = 14) were included in the study,” the researchers wrote in their paper. “Two groups were formed: one group was treated with conventional CAD/CAM-intraoral molding plates as published previously with digitally designed intraoral molding plates serving as a reference group and the other group with RapidNAM-plates. In both groups, impressions were taken from the upper jaw within the first few days of life and at the end of molding therapy when primary lip closure was performed at the age of approximately 3–4 months.”

Selected landmarks.

A 3D triangulation scanner from 3Shape in Denmark was used to digitalize the casts, and after creating a graphical user interface (GUI), an algorithm automatically detected the alveolar ridge, in order to find the monthly growth rate in the anatomical study of 32 healthy newborn babies. Special 3D software was used to help with plate expansions during the manual plate molding.

The study concludes, “RapidNAM overcomes previous limitations of conventional CAD/CAM-intraoral molding plates by its semi-automated workflow. The GUI creates a series of molding plates within a few minutes but still allows changes by the user. The resulting plates are as adaptable as conventional NAM-devices. The algorithm automatically detects the edentulous alveolar ridges and may also have further dental applications. RapidNAM gives good clinical results and may bring nasoalveolar molding to a broader practice.”

Co-authors are Florian D. Grill, Lucas M. Ritschl, Franz X. Bauer, Andrea Rau with the Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Dominik Gau, Maximilian Roth, Markus Eblenkamp, Klaus-Dietrich Wolff, and Denys J. Loeffelbein.

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