Posted on

3D Printing Webinar and Virtual Event Roundup, August 2, 2020

It’s another busy week in the 3D printing industry that’s packed full of webinars and virtual events, ranging in topics from medical materials and flexible electronics to polypropylene and market costs. There are four on Tuesday, August 4th, two on Wednesday, August 5th, and the week will end with the last KEX webinar on Thursday, August 6th.

ASTM’s AM General Personnel Certificate Program

Last week, the ASTM International Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) training course all about additive manufacturing safety.  Now, the AM CoE is starting its AM General Personnel Certificate course, which will begin August 4th and run through the 27th. One of its key focus areas is promoting AM adoption, and helping to fill the knowledge gap with training for the future AM workforce is a major way that the AM CoE is doing this. The online course is made up of eight modules covering all the general concepts of the AM process chain, and attendees will learn important technical knowledge that will allow them to earn a General AM Certificate after completing a multiple-choice exam.

“This course will feature 17 experts across the field of additive manufacturing to provide a comprehensive course covering all of the general concepts of the AM process chain to its attendees. The course will occur over the month of August consisting of two modules per week for four weeks. More information can be found in the course flyer.”

Online registration will open soon. This is not a free course—you can learn about the fees here.

Nexa3D & Henkel: Medical Materials Webinar

Nasal swabs

Recently, SLA 3D printer manufacturer Nexa3D and functional additive materials supplier Henkel announced that they were partnering up to commercialize the polypropylene-like xMED412, a durable, high-impact material that can be used to 3D print biocompatible medical and wearable devices; in fact, it’s already been cleared to print nasal swabs. Now, the two are holding a virtual leadership forum on “Advances and Breakthroughs in 3D Printed Medical Equipment and Device Materials,” like xMED412. Topics to be discussed will include new possibilities for 3D printing medical equipment and devices, the benefits of using AM to fabricate these products, and the advantages additive manufacturing has over medical materials made with traditional manufacturing. Panelists will engage with attendees after the discussion in a live Q&A session.

“3D printing has introduced all kinds of new possibilities for developing stronger and lightweighted equipment but we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible. These past few months have driven the industry to new realms of creativity with the need to quickly deliver medical supplies, devices and materials. With new lightweight, sturdy materials designed to withstand impact, moisture and vibration, access to lower cost medical equipment is becoming more widely available thanks to 3D printing.”

Register here for the 45-minute virtual forum, which will take place on Tuesday, August 4th, at 1:30 pm EST.

SOLIDWORKS Design Solution Demonstration

Also on August 4th, at 11 am EST, Dassault Systèmes will be holding a brief demonstration of its 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS design solution. This demonstration of the platform’s capabilities will last just 22 minutes, and will teach attendees how to collaborate and stay connected to data while creating new designs with SOLIDWORKS when connected to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, exploring the latest tools available on the platform, and design a model using both parametric (3D Creator) and Sub-D modeling (3D Sculptor) tools with the help of complementary workflows.

“SOLIDWORKS is the design tool that has been trusted by engineers and designers around the world for decades. Part of the 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS portfolio, SOLIDWORKS is now connected to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform with cloud-based tools that enable everyone involved in product development to collaborate on real-time data. Doing so enables you to efficiently gain the insight needed to create revolutionary new products.”

You can register for the demonstration here.

NextFlex Innovation Days

The last August 4th event in this week’s roundup is NextFlex Innovation Days, the flagship showcase event for the consortium of academic institutions, companies, non-profits, and local and federal governments that make up NextFlex and are working to advance US manufacturing of flexible hybrid electronics (FHE). The event will run through Thursday, August 6th, and will include panel discussions on how FHEs are continuing to transform the world, including a panel featuring a special guest speaker from the US Senate. FHE innovations that will be highlighted during the event include a wearable biometrics monitor from Stretch Med, Inc., flexible skin-like sensors from Georgia Tech, a flexible UV sensor out of the NASA Ames Research Center, miniaturized gas sensors that GE Research integrated into wearables and drone formats, and Brewer Science’s integrated FHE solutions in a brewery application.

“This multi-day virtual event will feature over 50 customer, partner and member company presentations online available at no cost. If you watch live, you’ll have the chance to interact with presenters and flexible hybrid electronic (FHE) experts from the comfort of home via webinars and virtual labs, or you can watch video demonstrations at your availability.”

Register for NextFlex Innovation Days here.

Additive America & HP AM Webinar

HP is currently sponsoring a webinar series highlighting business in the AM industry that worked to transition their production processes in order to help fill the supply chain gap that’s been caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This week’s episode, which will take place at 1:30 pm EST on Wednesday, August 5th, will feature a discussion with Additive America on “the lasting impact of COVID-19 on additive manufacturing.”

“Listen in on conversations with our customers to learn how they have adapted to the change in business climate, whether it be a shift in production workflow to address supply chain gaps, enabling a faster product development cycle to support changing customers’ needs, or bridge production.”

You can register for this webinar here.

Prodways, BASF, & Peridot Talk Polypropylene

Also on August 5th, Prodways, BASF, and full-service product development company Peridot Inc. will be holding a free webinar together called “Rethink Additive Manufacturing with Polypropylene.” Led by Lee Barbiasz from Prodways, Jeremy Vos from BASF, and Peridot owner Dave Hockemeyer, the webinar will focus on how PP 1200, a tough, chemically resistant, low density polypropylene enabled by BASF for selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing, is being used to bridge the gap between additive manufacturing and injection molding, as well as growing opportunities and applications in short run manufacturing. Hockemeyer was an early adopter of the material, and will share a variety of use cases for PP 1200. There will also be a chance for attendees to ask questions about the material.

“3D Printing with Polypropylene is here! After more than three decades, 3D printing technology has evolved the ability to 3D print polypropylene material. Polypropylene enables scalability in manufacturing, reduces barriers to entry in 3D printing and reduces manufacturing costs by 25-50%!”

You can register for the webinar, held on Wednesday, August 5th, from 1-1:45 pm EST, here.

KEX Knowledge Exchange on Market, Costs & Innovation

The last entry in this week’s roundup will take place on Thursday, August 6th. KEX Knowledge Exchange AG, a former spinoff of Fraunhofer IPT, held webinars in July about powder bed fusion technology and post-processing, and the last in its series will be an online seminar on Market, Costs & Innovation. Sebastian Pfestorf from KEX and Lea Eilert, the project and technology manager for the ACAM Aachen Center for Additive Manufacturing, will be the speakers for this webinar.

“In this online seminar, you will learn:

  • Current AM market and industrial trends

  • What markets the technology has penetrated the most and why

  • How to go about implementing AM, including risks and uncertainties

You can register for the hour-long webinar here. It will take place on Thursday, August 6th, at 8 am EST.

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, August 2, 2020 appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Posted on

IDS Releasing Aerosol-Based Desktop Electronics 3D Printer at NextFlex Innovation Day

Coming up on August 8th, the NextFlex consortium will be holding an Innovation Day at its San Jose, California headquarters. The invitation-only workshop (request an invite here) celebrates the progress made on projects and results achieved in the Technology Hub, in addition to giving members a way to discover new technology, network with each other, and meet influencers in the FHE (Flexible Hybrid Electronics) manufacturing supply chain. This year, New Mexico-based company IDS will be on hand at the event to officially announce the release of its updated desktop aerosol 3D printer.

IDS, which stands for Integrated Deposition Solutions, is a small business in Albuquerque. Founded in 2013, the company is looking to become a leader in the field of 3D printed electronics – it has licensed an aerosol-based AM technology, called NanoJet, from Sandia National Laboratories and adapted it for Direct-Write Electronic (DWE) 3D printing.

According to IDS, the company’s updated desktop 3D printer is a high-performance, low-cost system for aerosol 3D printing applications, such as printed electronics. IDS claims it’s the “first affordable aerosol-based print platform” in printed electronics that’s currently available for both research purposes and low volume production.

“The NanoJet technology is cost-effective, easy to use, reliable and capable of operating for extended periods of time without operator intervention,” the IDS website states. “The ability to print features from approximately 10 µm to 200 µm in width in conductors, dielectrics, resistors and other electronic specific materials makes the aerosol-based NanoJet technology unique.”

IDS’ aerosol 3D printer has integrated its reliable NanoJet technology into a functioning desktop machine, which includes a process vision system, print process controls, simplified tool path generation, and industrial motion control driven by G-code. This motion control platform provides flexibility to end users in using tool path generators, whether it’s the one that came with the IDS printer or something similar. In addition, the multiple NanoJet print heads make it easy to switch materials between development, production, and and research processes, thanks to its aerosol focusing assemblies and easy to replace ink cartridges; each print head includes its own module.

The printer also has a 150 x 150 mm heated platform and point of use aerosol generation. Applications for IDS’ aerosol-based NanoJet 3D printing include:

  • biomedical
  • conformal electronics
  • high-density interconnects
  • wireless power transfer

Another company that’s well-known for using an aerosol-based 3D printing process is production-grade 3D printer supplier Optomec, with its patented Aerosol Jet technology for 3D printing electronics. Aerosol jetting is a very important technology because of its ability to create intricate products like antennae and sensors.

I’m not sure if IDS’ technology works the same as Optometc’s aerosol 3D printing, but I would bet the processes are very similar. IDS claims its desktop system is a plug-and-play 3D printer, with continuous operation for four hours of unattended printing, that uses Ag nanoparticle ink and single pass line thickness between 100 nm to 4 µm. The company also says that its aerosol 3D printer costs three times less than other commercially available aerosol-based systems; you can contact IDS for a quote.

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

[Images: IDS]

The post IDS Releasing Aerosol-Based Desktop Electronics 3D Printer at NextFlex Innovation Day appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Posted on

3D Printing News Sliced, $11M project call, SLM Solutions, Aconity3D, Onshape

This edition of our 3D printing news digest Sliced features an $11 million funding pool  for flexible electronics; metal 3D printing’s expansion in the U.S.; life-changing fundraising for 3D bioprinters; mind-boggling 3D printed ceramics and more. Read on for the latest news from NextFlex, SLM Solutions, Aconity3D, Onshape, Bristol Children’s Hospital and Cunicode. NextFlex offers $11 […]
Posted on

3D Printing News Briefs: August 7, 2018

We’re starting things off on today’s 3D Printing News Briefs with a little business and a little software, before moving on to more cool 3D printing projects and products. NextFlex has announced its Project Call 4.0, and we’ve got a closer look at a 3D print filament recycling system that was introduced at the Barcelona Maker Faire. OnShape has announced the latest updates to its CAD system. A university student 3D printed a car muffler, and Printable Science presents its 3D printed safety razor.

NextFlex Project Call 4.0

Last month, the NextFlex consortium, one of the leaders in the Manufacturing USA network, announced the award recipients of $12 million in funding for the latest round of its extremely successful Project Call program for Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) innovations. This week, the consortium announced the $10 million funding round for its Project Call 4.0, which has a “very diverse scope of needs” that represent gaps in capabilities and technology in multiple application areas. Proposals should focus on several manufacturing thrust areas (MTA), such as flexible battery integration, FHE device encapsulation, evaluating and developing connectors for e-textiles and FHE devices, and advanced 3D electrical design software, among others.

“NextFlex’s Project Call process has proven to be extremely successful. We continuously tackle member-identified FHE manufacturing challenges, and with 31 projects already underway from three previous project calls, we expect this to garner even more interest from the FHE community,” said Dr. Malcolm J. Thompson, the Executive Director of NextFlex. “Topics in Project Call 4.0 build upon successful developments and learning from our previous project calls.”

OUROBOROS 3D Printing Recycling System

The Barcelona Maker Faire was held earlier this summer, and one of the many innovations on display at the event included an all-in-one recycling system for 3D printing called the OUROBOROS. The system shreds used plastic and extrudes the material into a 3D printable filament. According to YouTube user Joan Cullere, the OUROBOROS system includes a prototype shredder with a 24 V motor that’s almost completely 3D printed itself.

In addition to the economic and compact shredder prototype, the OUROBOROS 3D printing recycling system features a user-friendly filament extruder with better cooling, a new spooling system, and an optimized filament path. To see the new system for yourself, check out the video below.

Onshape System Updates

Modern CAD platform Onshape introduced the premium edition of its software in May, and delivers automatic upgrades to the system every three weeks. The latest updates, from July 12 and August 1, include many new improvements to the Onshape CAD system.

For instance, the July 12 update introduced a feature for adjusting the line thickness in drawings, which allows users to define the thickness for tangent, hidden, and visible edges. This update also added a new Drawing Properties panel icon, which replace the wrench icon and includes several new features. The August 12 update made it possible for users to change existing parts or assemblies to a revision, which means every stage of the workflow can be changed. In addition, users can now enjoy significant rebuild time improvements in the system’s complex multi-part Sheet Metal Part Studios. The next updates should arrive on August 23rd.

3D Printed Car Muffler

University student and YouTube user Cooper Orrock was inspired by another maker’s DIY project – a duct tape and cardboard car muffler – to make his own 3D printed version. He designed the two-component automotive part and 3D printed it in plastic; then, with the help of some friends, he prepared the part for installation on a vehicle. This included clearing out some of the holes on the rim of each part so it could be screwed together, and removing the original muffler from the car.

“Part of me thinks that it could possibly melt just because of all the heat from the engine and stuff, but part of me thinks it could work,” Orrock said.

To see if his prediction came true, check out the video below.

3D Printed Safety Razor

Printable Science, which creates “all the science that’s fit to print’ according to its Patreon page, creates all sorts of nifty 3D printed projects, like a socket nut driver, a mini hacksaw handle, and a USB microscope stand. Now, it’s moved on to a 3D printed, four part plastic safety razor.

“Forget the dollar shave club… forget paying shipping and handling… 3D print your own safety razor and be part of the 29 cent shave club,” a member of Printable Science said on the YouTube video.

He explained that the basic design of the safety razor has been mostly unchanged for about 150 years, and that with the design for this razor, you can make your own for just 19 cents. However, this isn’t the first 3D printed razor we’ve seen – in fact, the Gillette Company filed a patent for a 3D printable razor cartridge a few years ago, and was also one of the co-creators of a challenge to design a 3D printed razor handle. To see how Printable Science’s 3D printed plastic safety razor compares, check out the video below.

Discuss these stories and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

Posted on

Lockheed Martin 3D printed antenna database funded in NextFlex $12 millon offering

An additive manufacturing project at American global defense contractor Lockheed Martin has won the support of NextFlex, America’s Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) Manufacturing Institute. This year the institute, which was formed by the U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) and FlexTech Alliance, split a fund of $12 million between a total of seven projects, led by […]