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3D Printing and COVID-19, May 9, 2020 Update: NIH, Siemens, 3D Systems, SLM Solutions

Companies, organizations and individuals continue to attempt to lend support to the COVID-19 pandemic supply effort. We will be providing regular updates about these initiatives where necessary in an attempt to ensure that the 3D printing community is aware of what is being done, what can be done and what shouldn’t be done to provide coronavirus aid.

At 12 pm on Monday, May 11th, 2020 America Makes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute of Health, and the Veterans Affairs administration will be hosting a COVID-19 Response panel discussion, followed by a virtual networking reception. You can register for the event here.

Quant-U, a midsole printing project from Danish shoemaker ECCO and chemical giant Dow, has created 100 pairs of shoes with 3D-printed midsoles for medical workers at intensive care units at OLVG hospitals in Amsterdam. After 3D scanning the wearer’s feet and then capturing their walking data via wearable sensors, ECCO’s experimental shoe division 3D printed custom midsoles from Dow-produced silicon for staff who need to be on their feet for numerous throughout the day.

Siemens Mobility began using Stratasys 3D printers for printing spare parts for Russian Railways’ high-speed rail this February. The division is now testing 36 attachments for toilet and driver cab doors that make it possible to open train doors with an elbow or lower arm in order to reduce the spread of germs and the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Prototype parts are installed multiple Desire trains in the Moscow region.

A hands-free door opener reportedly being used by Siemens Mobility. Image courtesy of Siemens Mobility.

An emergency working group dubbed the Sustainable Hub for Innovation, Execution, Launch and Distribution (SHIELD) is joining together experts in healthcare, 3D printing, engineering and construction to use additive manufacturing, injection molding and textiles manufacturing to get personal protection equipment to staff in the U.K. Makerversity in London has made over 30,000 face shields so far.

3D Systems posted its financial information for the quarter, reporting a 11.4 percent decline in revenue compared to last year at $134.7 million. This was pinned on the overall decline in manufacturing activity and industrial production, which reduced demand for its industrial products, while delays or cancellations of elective surgeries, such as dental, slowed consumption. Supply chain disruptions also led to issues with its facilities in China and Europe. Outgoing CEO Vyomesh Joshi said:

“COVID-19 has presented unprecedented challenges globally, so we asked our customers and partners to help address these challenges with 3D printing. Over the last several weeks we have seen applications of our technology and software being used to assist COVID-19 efforts, from ventilator parts to personal protection equipment to nasal swabs, which are all able to go from prototype to production in mere days, compared to what would normally take months using traditional supply chain and showcasing our true value proposition. Amid this uncertain environment we have managed the company by continuing to reduce expenses and preserving cash, and we believe we will be well-positioned when the market comes back.”

SLM Solutions has reported its earnings for Q1 2020, with revenues unaffected by the virus due to a backlog of orders from the end of 2019, causing a 143 percent increase in total revenue from €7.3 million Q1 2019 to €17.8 million in Q1 2020. However, the company has said that order intake for this most recent quarter was negatively impacted in that it sold the same number of machines Q1 2020 as it had in Q1 2019, with CEO Meddah Hadjar saying:

“While our first quarter was strong in terms of revenue generation, we started to feel the implications of the COVID19 pandemic in markedly lower order intake. The resulting economic slowdown hits some of SLM’s key end markets like the aircraft, the aero-engines, and the oil & gas industries.”

As the pandemic continues to grip the world, we will continue to provide regular updates about what the 3D printing community is doing in response. As always, it is important to keep safety in mind, remain critical about the potential marketing and financial interests behind seemingly good humanitarian efforts from businesses, and to do no harm.

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3D Printing News Briefs: March 10, 2020

The big story in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs is the postponing of the Materialise World Summit. Then we’ll finish with a little business news, as 3D PRINT UK is moving to expanded premises. Finally, starting this week, you can get QUANT-U’s 3D printed silicone midsoles at ECCO’s flagship Zürich store for a limited time.

Materialise World Summit Postponed

Every two years, Materialise holds its Materialise World Summit (MWS) in Brussels, Belgium, gathering together the industry’s thought leaders and decision makers so they can share ideas about the additive manufacturing industry. This event typically takes place in the spring, which was the original plan for this year’s MWS…but not anymore. MWS 2020, originally scheduled for May 14-15, has been postponed, due to, as the company’s Kristof Sehmke tells us, “the coronavirus and its impact on international traffic.”

MWS 2020 will now take place November 5-6, which makes it a busy month considering that will just one week before formnext in Germany. This isn’t the only major industry event that’s had to change its plans due to the COVID-19 outbreak – JEC World, originally scheduled for last  week, has been pushed back to May, and after several big companies originally planning to attend the upcoming SXSW dropped out, including Apple, Facebook, Amazon Studios, TikTok, Intel, and Warner Music, the Texas-based conference was called off. With California Governor Gavin Newsome declaring a state of emergency in California over the coronavirus, should we all cancel our plans for RAPID + TCT next month? Time will only tell.

3D PRINT UK Moves to Bigger Facility

Moving on to some better news, 3DPRINTUK has just finished the move to its new purpose-designed facility in North London’s Leyton Industrial Village. The service provider of polymer SLS 3D printing solutions for manufacturing applications was seeing increased demand for low volume production, and determined that a move was needed to accommodate the company’s current, and future, plans for expansion. 3DPRINTUK’s new home is larger, with nearly 10,000 square feet of space, and was custom-designed to hold the company’s EOS polymer SLS 3D printers, as well as offer a space for post-processing operations and a break down room that’s sealed to avoid powder contamination.

“At 3DPRINTUK we are able to work with our customers — and potential new customers — to illustrate when and why the SLS process will work for them. But we are not afraid to tell them when it won’t, either. This is really important to us, and something the industry at large is not very good at confronting,” stated Nick Allen, 3DPRINTUK’s Founder and Managing Director. “I think this approach has contributed to our growth, which has been organic year on year, and the new premises are testament to that. We are still settling in, but the printers have been working non-stop since we got here and we are looking to further expand our capacity in the near future.”

QUANT-U’s In-store Experience at ECCO

In 2018, the Innovation Lab at Danish heritage footwear brand and manufacturer ECCO introduced an experimental footwear customization project called QUANT-U, which uses real-time analysis, data-driven design, and in-store 3D printing to create custom, personalized midsoles out of a heat cured two-component silicone in just two hours. The QUANT-U experience is now coming to ECCO’s flagship Zürich store as an exclusive pop-up event from now until April 15, with a “unique limited collection” available to both men and women, along with the full customization service.

The process is simple – 3D scanners determine your orthotic fit in 30 seconds, so your midsoles have the correct shoe size and arch height. Then, during a walking analysis, wearable sensors will create an accurate representation of how you move around. The anatomical scan and the sensor data will help QUANT-U build a unique digital footprint just for you, which leads to customized, 3D printed midsoles within two hours. You can use the cloud-based service to print your own midsoles from any location and have them shipped to you, but at the upcoming ECCO pop-up event, you can just pick them up in the store. Book your fitting now!

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

The post 3D Printing News Briefs: March 10, 2020 appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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New Balance & Formlabs Continue 3D Printing Pioneering Journey in Footwear #3DPrinting

Three 5
Via 3DPrint

With the initial concept created by The New Balance Innovation Design Studio, the FuelCell Echo Triple is ‘based on the growing focus of forefoot technology,’ with the 990 originally chosen to harken back to a strong yet classic form. The heel has similar cushioning but is ten percent lighter. This new footwear technology is made and assembled in the US.

The connection between 3D printing and footwear—along with many other types of fashion—is not only functional but fascinating as everybody from the general user to the athlete to fashionistas may find something to wear. And of course, as innovations like futuristic running shoes, high heels, ballet shoes, and even martial arts shoes emerge, this is still only the beginning of what many refer to as the new industrial revolution.

Learn more!

Flora breadboard is Every Wednesday is Wearable Wednesday here at Adafruit! We’re bringing you the blinkiest, most fashionable, innovative, and useful wearables from around the web and in our own original projects featuring our wearable Arduino-compatible platform, FLORA. Be sure to post up your wearables projects in the forums or send us a link and you might be featured here on Wearable Wednesday!

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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.

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

 

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BASF and Reebok to Release Additional 3D Printed Liquid Speed Shoes, More Projects in Development

Multiple major shoe manufacturing corporations have been turning to 3D printing over the last couple of years. While 3D printed shoes aren’t filling shoe stores just yet, companies are being attracted to the technology for its design potential and customization possibilities. Now we’re in the age of the small series of exclusive 3D printing shoe. Earlier this year, Nike introduced the first shoe with a 3D printed upper, while New Balance has led the way with the first partially 3D printed shoe to be made commercially available. And in 2016, Reebok introduced the Liquid Speed shoe, which uses liquid developed by BASF to draw a frame directly onto the shoe. This allows for a tighter fit, and it’s pretty cool-looking, too.

The technique also does away with the traditional mold-driven process, which is expensive and time-consuming, and allows for localized production. Currently, nearly all athletic footwear is made in Asian factories due to the labor-intensive nature of the mold process, but thanks to Reebok’s 3D printing technology, the Liquid Speed shoe can be made anywhere, including in the company’s Liquid Factory, which is located in Rhode Island.

“The point of automation is to shorten the production cost and enable that automation,” said Chau Nguyen, Market Segment Manager for Footwear, PM North America, BASF. “So instead of a person sitting there and putting a sole on, they were able to dispense it in 3D on the part itself— that saved a lot of time.”

Reebok approached BASF, which it had worked with before, about creating a polyurethane material that it could use to create a unique outsole. BASF formulated a urethane-based liquid that could be drawn on to create an outsole that melds with the lacing on the shoe.

“We provide the material to Reebok that has the required rheology and reactivity to produce a part with no molds,” said Nguyen. “Look at it as if drawing with ketchup. When you draw with this material, it’s already curing, it’s already started to solidify.”

Comfort is key in any shoe (except some formal wear), but especially running shoes, where performance depends largely on how comfortably the shoe fits. The design of the Liquid Speed shoe allows for an especially secure and comfortable fit, according to Nguyen.

“In this case the outsole has wings on it and it wraps around to the sides of the shoe. You have tension at the top of your foot, and usually all of the materials are combined together,” he explained. “Well, in this case you have material attached to the sides, the medial and the lateral parts of your foot, so you get a more custom fit.”

Nguyen also calls the shoe the first high-rebound outsole. Until now, most outsoles have been made from rubber, but the polyurethane allows for better rebound.

“When you’re running, a certain amount of energy is going to the ground,” he said. “So, when you hit the ground, in this case, it absorbs the energy and then it returns it, that’s why it’s called high rebound.”

When the Liquid Speed shoe was first released in November, only 300 pairs were made, and they sold out within hours for $189.50 each. The first batch was so limited because Reebok was borrowing lab time, but now that it has opened its own Liquid Factory, there will be more extensive releases in the future. Reebok is working on additional footwear products with help from BASF, as well.

“The various chemistries provided by BASF—we have separate chemistries for cushioning, durability and support— are central to these creations,” said Bill McInnis, Head of Future at Reebok.

So keep an eye out for Liquid Speed to reemerge on the market before long, as well as some new developments from Reebok. As 3D printed shoes become more easily and frequently made, costs will likely go down as well, making them more accessible – Liquid Speed shoes are already relatively inexpensive compared to some of the other 3D printed shoes that have been released. Many of these other shoes have been made specifically for professional athletes, but Reebok seems to have the average consumer in mind.

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

[Source: BASF/Images: Reebok]