Posted on

How to find a job in additive manufacturing with little experience

The Additive Manufacturing industry boasts a wide variety of jobs and career paths, making it a popular industry to work in – both for new graduates looking for their first job, or professionals looking to make a career shift.

Starting a new career can be challenging, and in a technical industry like additive manufacturing, finding a job with little professional experience can seem daunting.

Additive Manufacturing recruitment experts Alexander Daniels Global give their advice on how to get a job with little experience.

1. Be proactive

Somebody who is passionate about AM and looking to make their first step into the industry, has to be proactive in their self-learning. This means undertaking basic training in additive manufacturing to build some depth in your knowledge. Over the past years, the availability of AM specific courses and other learning opportunities has risen significantly, with universities, certification bodies and consultant services offering free webinars, studies and papers to build knowledge. 

Some examples of the freely available learning content are from Markforged, Stratasys, Formlabs, Bigrep, LinkedIn Learning, Materialise, 3D Systems, and 3D Hubs.

Being proactive about your self-learning not only provides you more knowledge about additive manufacturing, but it shows your potential employer that you are truly passionate about the industry, and willing to put in the work.

2. Identify opportunities for practical experience

With some basic knowledge and understanding of additive manufacturing, the next step is to gain practical, hands-on experience. This is an aspect highly valued and sought-after by employers. Hands-on experience with machines, materials, processes and so on, can either be obtained through internships in AM organisations, or through paid courses with AM organisations or facilities.

According to Alexander Daniels Global’s Additive Manufacturing Talent Market Whitepaper, an increasing number of AM companies are offering internships – especially in Europe, where 12% of the advertised AM related jobs are internships. This recent development is largely powered by the recognized talent shortage in the AM industry; companies are struggling to find talented professionals with prior experience in AM, and a way to get these rare professionals is by training them yourself. Likewise, the increasing collaborations between universities and AM end-users has also resulted in more internships and junior roles being created, as companies are hiring graduates straight out of university.

Large AM OEM’s like HP, GE Additive and Stratasys often hire interns or graduates into graduate rotation programs. The internships can be freely viewed and applied for on their career portals.

Depending on the path that you are looking to follow with your career, there can be certain requirements to the internships. For example, engineering internships will often require a degree in engineering with some exposure to AM within that degree. Vice versa, there will be internship or entry-level jobs like Junior Inside Sales, that typically do not require AM experience, as it is inherent that you learn on the job.

3. Targeted job hunt

Rejections on job applications are demotivating, but they are often a result of untargeted and scatter-gun type job applications; being successful in your job application requires careful consideration and a targeted approach.

The best thing to do is to ask yourself “What skills and experience do I have, that are transferrable and applicable to the type of job I want?”, and then specifically target the opportunities and organisations that exist with a tailored CV and cover letter.

The cover letter should outline why you are interested in the job, where your passion comes from, and which transferrable skills you believe you can bring. By doing this, the employer can see that even though you may not have AM experience, you have the passion, the basic knowledge and you have been proactive about your self-learning.

Another way of targeting specific companies is to utilise networks. For example, try to utilise LinkedIn to connect with key people in the industry and approach the organisations directly; this shows that you can be proactive in trying to create an opportunity for yourself. Keep in mind, however, that you cannot simply message them saying “Hello, I need a job. Please help”. It is your responsibility to get them intrigued in your profile and show them what you can bring to the company.

Transferrable skills

Transferrable skills are experience and skills you may have obtained in other industries or jobs, that are applicable in additive manufacturing as well.

According to Alexander Daniels Global, there are two central soft skills that AM companies look for in a person, regardless of whether the job is in engineering, sales, marketing, etc.

“The two competencies that stand out as being central to all AM roles, regardless of discipline, is passion and creativity”, says Nick Pearce, Director and Founder of Alexander Daniels Global.

“The industry is built on passionate people and it is an aspect employers value greatly. With regards to creativity, many of the future opportunities that exist in additive manufacturing are driven by people with creative minds and their ability to think differently about how and where the technology can be applied”, Nick continues.

Technical transferrable skills depend on the job discipline. For engineering related roles, any experience in either one of application-, process- or quality engineering, would be considered easily transferrable to additive manufacturing, with some training and a lot of passion. 

There is never one solution to finding a job, but to sum it all up, passion, creativity and proactivity are your best starting points to finding a job in additive manufacturing.

By Signe Damgaard Jensen

The post How to find a job in additive manufacturing with little experience appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Posted on

3Dflow Computer Vision Software

3Dflow

3Dflow

3Dflow is a private software company operating in the field of Computer Vision and Image Processing. It was established in 2011 as a spin-off of the University of Verona, and in  2012 it became a spin-off of the University of Udine. 3Dflow is a company that provides solutions in Photogrammetry, 3D modeling of reality, 3D processing, and 3D visual effects. Their customers range from small industries competitors to large scale entertainment companies. In this article we will be analyzing this company as well as showcasing their workshop for 3D imaging and photogrammetry, as well as their world cup competition.

3Dflow is a company that is based in Italy. It is a small organization with fewer than 15 employees. The main value proposition this organization gives is its ability to use computer vision and software in combination to create 3D image data. For the stitching of the point cloud data of multiple photos, the organization provides software that does this for the user. The software is called 3DF Zephyr. 3DF Zephyr comes in the following forms:

  • 3DF Zephyr Free
  • 3DF Zephyr Lite
  • 3DF Zephyr Pro
  • 3DF Zephyr Aerial

Image result for 3d flow photogrammetry

3DF Zephyr Free

The free version of 3DF Zephyr includes full 3D construction, a 50 photo limit, single NVIDIA GPU support, basic exporting capabilities, and basic editing tools, and full forum support. 3DF Zephyr Lite differences include Dual NVIDIA GPU Support, 1 year upgrades included, basic email, and full forum support. The 3DF Zephyr Pro version has full exporting capabilities, advanced editing tools, control points & measurements, laser scan support, 1 year upgrades included, full email, and forum support. 3D Zephyr Aerial has all the previous abilities and GIS, CAD, and Survey Tools. 

3Dflow still comes from an educational background in terms of its founding story. It explains how they have transitioned to a consulting company as well as an organization that is focused on research and development. It also explains why they offer a free version of their software as an educational version for students. They care about building software for the future of photogrammetry as well as 3D imaging. They have developed specific algorithms and frameworks that are proprietary to their organization. This includes:

  • 3DF Samantha
  • 3DF Statsia
  • 3DF Sasha
  • 3DF Masquerade

3DF Stasia is the proprietary algorithm to extract very accurate dense point clouds from a set of 2D images. In Computer Vision this process is best known as a multiview stereo. The first step is to extract the corresponding points in two images and the second step is the 3D reconstruction with algorithms like Discrete Linear Transform. The Discrete Linear Transform, or Discrete Fourier Transform used in a linear model, converts a finite sequence of equally-spaced samples of a function into a same-length sequence of equally-spaced samples of the discrete-time Fourier transform (DTFT), which is a complex-valued function of frequency. The function we are dealing with in this case is the stitching together or images into 3D object data. Using DLT, the reconstruction is done only where there are SCPs. By increasing the number of points, the results improve but it is time consuming. This method has low accuracy because of low reproducibility and time consumption. This method is dependent on the skill of the operator. This method is not suitable for bony structures with continuous shape. This method is generally used as an initial solution for other methods. Hence the other technology developed by 3DF is vital. 

Mathematics of Discrete Fourier Transform

3DF Sasha is their proprietary algorithm for mesh extraction: given a dense point cloud full of details, it is important to preserve as much detail as possible when extracting the surface. Sasha allows one to get sharp edges on a 3D model and that is why it is more suitable for applications such as architecture, industrial surveying, and urban monitoring. Without the precision of point cloud data, the resulting stitch of 2D images would come out to be noisy. 

To clean up residual noise from the data, 3Dflow employs their 3DF Masquerade tool. This tool has been developed as an external executable that is included in the 3DF Zephyr installation package. Masquerade can mask images so it can save time during masking operations. 3DF Masquerade is helpful when there is a lot of background noise or when the subject has been moved incoherently with the background: the most common scenario is a subject that is being acquired on a turntable.

Image result for noisy 3D data

Example of a Noisy 3D mesh

 

The first photogrammetry & 3D scanning training course in the English language by 3Dflow in Verona (Italy), next September 30th, October 1st and October 2nd! One will learn photogrammetry with 3DF Zephyr: this course will tackle everything from photography for photogrammetry (basic and advanced shooting techniques) to data processing with 3DF Zephyr, on both photogrammetry-only workflows and a external-data oriented workflows (e.g. laser scanners). Theory and practice on the software will be paired with an actual test-acquisition Verona, a world-famous history-rich cities in Italy and home of 3Dflow. 

I will be attending this workshop to learn and report on this next month, but I encourage others to look into the 3Dflow organization and see what they are doing. Also be sure to signup for their workshop here.

 

The post 3Dflow Computer Vision Software appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Posted on

Germany: Research Shows Good Response from Students Using 3D Printed Dental Traumatology Training

Authors M. Reymus , C. Fotiadou, R. Hickel, and C. Diegritz explore the uses of 3D printed models in dental traumatology training, with their findings outlined in the recently published ‘3D printed model for hands-on training in dental traumatology.’ For their study, they used an SLA printer to create a 3D printed model of a dental patient’s maxilla, mimicking several different traumatic dental injuries.

Being able to create accurate models exhibiting significant trauma offers a host of benefits to dental students who can take their time in a deliberate learning mode rather than waiting to rush in to see what could be a relatively small number of injured patients on-site. This also accentuates the enormous amount of learning gained from lectures. The hope is that more knowledge can be gained about dental traumatology, as the researchers point out that dental accidents are often treated by general dentists who may not have an adequate education or experience to deal with such cases overall.

The researchers wanted to make a model that was not only realistic but would allow for students to practice both diagnosis and treatment too. They also wanted to design a product that would translate from educational settings to dental clinics. With these hands-on tools available, the authors also created another level to their study regarding the use of dentaltraumaguide.org, offering the resource to only half of the students participating in the study—and comparing their knowledge.

The model was designed and 3D printed as follows to show dental trauma for a 16-year-old boy:

“The data generated were exported as single DICOM files and imported to Invesalius for Mac (Centre for Information Technology Renato Archer, Amarais, Brazil) to convert it into one .stl file. This file was subsequently imported to Meshmixer for Mac 11.0 (Autodesk, San Rafael, CA, USA) and trimmed to a region extending from the right first premolar to the left premolar. The right lateral incisor, the left first incisor as well as the left second incisor were cut out of the STL-mesh and exported as single STL-files.

Using the function ‘Boolean difference’, these teeth were cut out, leaving imitation tooth sockets in their original position. Additionally, the right lateral incisor was positioned at a 30° angle towards the palatal from its original position, and again, the function ‘Boolean difference’ was used to imitate a lateral luxation of the tooth perforating the buccal bone. The left lateral incisor was separated into two parts at its apical third imitating a horizontal root fracture. The extracted left incisor was not changed, imitating an avulsion. The mesial edge of the right incisor was removed, exposing the pulp chamber to imitate a complex crown fracture.”

Computer-aided designed model with empty tooth sockets, buccal perforation and complicated crown fracture.

The 32 undergraduate students were tasked to work on the case, even simulating a conversation with the mother of the injured boy as they practiced asking the correct questions about the accident, as well as advising on post-traumatic behavior. Upon examining the 3D printed model, they were given information about every tooth, and asked to offer the following:

  • Diagnosis
  • Treatment plan
  • Recall regime
  • Prognosis of each injured tooth

The assessment was considered in these areas:

  • Pre-treatment
  • Therapy
  • Post-treatment
  • Recall
  • Complications

“The presented workflow allowed the manufacturing of a radiopaque model that imitated a luxation injury, a complicated crown fracture, an avulsion, and a horizontal root fracture in a realistic way,” stated the authors.

Radiograph of the right lateral incisor with a luxation injury (left) and Radiograph of the empty tooth socket of the left incisor and the left lateral incisor with a horizontal root fracture (right).

And while their goal was for such a workflow to be easily transferred to another dental school, they would need to own a CBCT and a stereolithographic printer, along with software that could be offered free. The 32 students were asked to evaluate the model, with 57 percent reporting it to be ‘very realistic,’ and 43 percent choosing ‘rather realistic.’

“The diagnosis of the lateral luxation was evaluated to be the most difficult of all injuries, whereas the avulsion was the easiest injury to diagnose. Concerning treatment planning, the horizontal root fracture was rated as being the most difficult injury. When listing possible complications, the students had serious problems with the horizontal root fracture.

Students’ evaluations of difficulty in diagnosis, treatment planning, therapy and knowledge about complications for each injury.

“All participants reported to have gained new knowledge on dental traumatology, and 97 percent felt better prepared for treating traumatic dental injuries in the future.

“Students seem to focus especially on the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic injuries to teeth when dealing with dental traumatology. This is logical because these steps are of outmost importance for immediate care when confronted with a trauma case. Fortunately, both groups of students in the present study achieved their best results in these fields. The group without access to dentaltaumaguide.org, however, had only poor results when faced with developing a recall regime and knowing about possible complications,” concluded the researchers.

Many dentists and orthodontists rely on 3D printing today for digital dentistry, dentures, and even grafts for issues like alveolar augmentation. What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

Printed model with gingival mask.

[Source / Images: ‘3D-printed model for hands-on training in dental traumatology’

The post Germany: Research Shows Good Response from Students Using 3D Printed Dental Traumatology Training appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

Posted on

Kiwi Companies Partner to Build Tailored 3D Printed Training Prosthetics for Female Para-Athletes

New Zealand-based Zenith Tecnica, which is the only company in the country using Electron Beam Melting (EBM) technology to make 3D printed titanium components, is teaming up with High Performance Sports NZ (HPSNZ) to give two inspiring Kiwi athletes a competitive edge for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Through this collaboration, the two companies will produce tailored 3D printed prosthetics for esteemed para-athletes Anna Grimaldi and Holly Robinson to use while working out and training in the gym.

3D printing has been used multiple times to help disabled athletes get a leg up over their competition, with prosthetics and braces as some of the main applications. As Zenith Tecnica, headquartered in Auckland, has supplied EBM 3D printed titanium components to America’s Cup Regatta and Formula 1 teams, fabricated plenty of medical instruments and implants, and manufactured components in outer space, the company was more than up to the challenge of making advanced, tailored prosthetics for Grimaldi and Robinson.

“Zenith Tecnica 3D printed the new attachment for Holly and Anna to use in the gym,” said Dr Stafford Murray, HPSNZ Head of Innovation. “It’s providing them with something different that you can’t buy off the shelf, that enables them to be the best that they can be.”


The company utilizes the Arcam Q10 plus and Q20 plus systems to produce EBM parts for multiple industries. These 3D printers are built on breakthrough deflection electronics, which allow for extremely accurate, fast beam control so melting can occur simultaneously at more than one point, while still maintaining excellent speed, precision, and surface finish. In addition, its hot vacuum process means no residual stresses to distort the 3D printed components.

“Zenith Tecnica offers a freedom of design to a lot of engineers, so we are not constrained to classical manufacturing methods like machining and casting,” explained Peter Sefont, the Production Manager at Zenith Tecnica. “It allows us and the engineers to do whatever we want.”

Holly Robinson

HPSNZ is a leader in sports innovation, and works with National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) to identify athletes’ strengths and push them further with modern technology and sports science. By partnering with Zenith Tecnica and using its EBM titanium 3D printing expertise, the company is able to think about the possibilities of design in a new way and knock down any boundaries that would otherwise limit them.

“To have someone listen to what we need and be like, ‘Nothing is off the table, we can try and build whatever it is you need,’ that was really awesome,” Grimaldi said about the teamwork between HPSNZ and Zenith Tecnica.

These two fierce female para-athletes are simply amazing. Robinson won the silver medal in the Women’s Javelin F46 at both the Rio 2016 Paralympics and the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. She’s already thrown her personal best – 45.73 m – which was good enough to break the world record in the event at the Australian Track & Field Championships in Sydney this past weekend.

Grimaldi won the gold in the Women’s Long Jump T47 at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and came in fourth in the Women’s 100m T47 at the same competition. This coming June, both women will have an optimal opportunity to see if their new 3D printed training prosthetics can help them win at the 2019 Oceania Area and Combined Events Championships.

Raylene Bates, Athletics New Zealand high performance coach, said, “This is a piece of equipment that would enable them to train like an able-bodied person; granting the use of both arms with a full range of movement, achieving a full body balance.”

Anna Grimaldi

Of course, all of these competitions are a precursor to the main event both Robinson and Grimaldi are working towards – the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. The hope is that through this partnership between Zenith Tecnica and HPSNZ, their new 3D printed titanium prosthetics will help them up their game while preparing for next year’s competition. Because these will be prosthetics tailored specifically to them, exercises and training methods that the para-athletes were previously unable to do because of previous off-the-shelf prosthetics should now be entirely possible…which means that gold medals are possible as well.

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

Posted on

New Speakers Added to Our Crash Courses – Last Day for Early Bird Rate for Metals Class

Make sure to check out the speaker roster for our March classes. We continue to build our programs with industry leaders in 3D printing. Our newest speaker for our Beginner Design for 3D Printing course starting March 5, Jason Slingerland, is a quality assurance engineer at Onshape, where he verifies stability and usability of Onshape products and tests sheet metal tools and standard content.

Onshape, which was recently named one of the “50 Start-Ups May Be the Next ‘Unicorns’” by The New York Times, unites modeling tools and design data management in a secure cloud workspace. In Jason’s article on the Onshape blog, “Why I Chose an Engineering Career,” Jason says after experiencing many obstacles and technology limitations in previous roles, his goal at his job is to change the negative connotation around the word CAD for engineers. We’re excited to learn more about Jason’s experience in his session, “How to Prep Your Models for Printing.”

Speaker Jason Slingerland, QA Engineer at Onshape

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More on our March Crash Courses

One-week Online Events + Workshops:

  • Beginner Design for 3D Printing – March 5, 2019
    • Session 1: Beginning Design Principles
      • Speaker: Jordan Pelovitz, Senior 3D Artist, Wayfair
    • Session 2: How to Prep Your Models for Printing
      • Speaker: Jason Slingerland, Quality Engineer, Onshape
  • Advanced Design for 3D Printing – March 12, 2019
    • Session 1: 3Developing Real Modeling Skills
      • Speaker: SelfCAD
    • Session 2: Coding/Generative Design
      • mathgrrl/Dr. Laura Taalman, Mathematician and 3D Designer
  • Essentials of 3D Printing with Metal – March 19, 2019 – Last day to register with the early bird rate!
    • Session 1: Introduction to Metal Additive Manufacturing
      • Speaker: Melanie Lang, Co-founder and Managing Director, Formalloy
    • Session 2: Design and Materials Considerations
      • Speaker: Frank Medina Ph.D., Consulting Technical Director, EWI: Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UTEP

Guest Speaker Sessions:

  • 90 minutes of key principles, case studies, and lessons, presented in two livestream sessions with Q&A.
  • All live sessions will be recorded and posted in the online classroom for on-demand access.

Online Workshop:

  • An assignment to apply what you learn, shared in a small group workshop with feedback from an industry expert.
  • All live content will be recorded and posted in the online classroom for on-demand access.

Bundle the courses and save.

Thank you to our Beginner Design for 3D Printing and Advanced Design for 3D Printing sponsor, SelfCAD, for the support.

 

 

 

 

Posted on

3D Printing News Briefs: February 16, 2019

We’ve got business, events, software, and materials news for you in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs. MELD has introduced a new operator training course, and Protolabs is launching a range of secondary services. AMUG announced the keynote speakers for its upcoming conference, while the call has gone out for submissions to the 2019 Altair Enlighten Award. This week at SOLIDWORKS WORLD 2019, Stratasys introduced AdvancedFDM software for GrabCAD Print. Finally, a gold partner at America Makes has created an Ultem 9085 materials database for FDM 3D printing, and 3D MicroPrint is using a powder rheometer to push the limits of additive manufacturing.

MELD Manufacturing Offers Training Program

MELD Manufacturing Corporation is launching a new operator training program to teach participants how to operate its award-winning technology, which uses an innovative no-melt process to additively manufacture, repair, coat, and join metals and metal matrix composites. The 4-day courses will provide both classroom instruction and hands-on machine training, and attendees will also review the history of MELD’s development.

“This program creates certified MELDers and delivers the capacity to integrate and innovate with MELD. Our customers have raved about the elegance of the MELD process and the ease of training. We’re excited to offer more of these opportunities,” said MELD’s CEO Nanci Hardwick.

The size of the classes, which will be held at MELD’s Virginia headquarters, will be limited so that each attendee can have the maximum amount of machine time in order to become certified, so you should register ASAP.

Protolabs Launches Secondary Services in Europe

Protolabs is a digital manufacturing source for custom prototypes and low-volume production parts and offers all sorts of traditional and additive manufacturing services. This week, the company announced that it was introducing detailed measurement and inspection reporting, which will be only the first part of its newly launched in-house Secondary Services across Europe. These services will provide support for the company’s On-Demand manufacturing requirements, and will also help in launching more value-add secondary operations, like assembly and surface treatment, in the future.

“Our customers really value our rapid manufacturing services for low-volume parts and prototypes, but they now want the benefit of On-Demand manufacturing for production parts, which have higher expectations for sampling, measurement and process documentation,” said Stephen Dyson, Protolabs’ Special Operations Manager. “The marked increase from customers across all industries wanting to take advantage of the speed and flexibility of On-Demand manufacturing brings with it a desire to simplify the supply chain. We are offering Secondary Services to reduce the number of process steps that the customer has to manage, saving time and resources.”

Protolabs will hold a webinar for designers and engineers on February 28th as part of its Secondary Services launch.

AMUG Announces Keynote Speakers

L-R: Brian McLean, Brad Keselowski, Todd Grimm

The Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) recently announced who the keynote speakers will be for its 2019 conference, which will be held in Chicago from March 31st to April 4th. The conference, which will have nearly 200 presentations, workshops and hands-on training sessions, is designed for both novice and experienced additive manufacturing users, and the three keynote speakers will address the use of additive manufacturing in a variety of different applications. Brian McLean, the director of rapid prototype for LAIKA, will take attendees on a visual journey of how 3D printing has helped to redefine stop-motion animation, while NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski, the owner and founder of Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing (KAM), will share how technology such as 3D printing can help companies win the race. Finally, Todd Grimm, the president of T. A. Grimm & Associates, is returning to the conference as a keynote speaker again.

“We are extremely excited about our 2019 AMUG Conference keynote speakers,” said Gary Rabinovitz, the AMUG chairman and chair of its program committee. “They will provide a snapshot of the most transformative ideas shaping the AM industry today.”

2019 Altair Enlighten Award Submissions

Michigan-based technology company Altair, together with the Center for Automotive Research (CAR), are now taking submissions from around the world for the 2019 Enlighten Award, which is the only award from the automotive industry for dedicated lightweighting. The award will be presented in the categories of Full Vehicle, Module, Enabling Technology and The Future of Lightweighting, and winners will be recognized during the CAR Management Briefing Seminars (MBS), along with getting the chance to ring the Nasdaq stock market opening bell in New York. Suppliers and manufacturers can learn more about the criteria and submit an entry for the awards here.

“We are pleased to continue our collaboration with Altair because of their global leadership in solutions that produce the optimal balance between weight, performance and cost. This award helps drive innovation in lightweighting, which is critical to the success of e-mobility solutions,” said Carla Bailo, the President and CEO of CAR. “We can’t wait to see the key contributions the 2019 nominations will bring in new approaches to automotive engineering and design, contributing to further reductions in weight, fuel consumption, and emissions.”

Stratasys Announces AdvancedFDM Software for GrabCAD

At this week’s SOLIDWORKS World 2019 in Dallas, Stratasys introduced a new feature for its GrabCAD Print software that will remove more complexity from the design-to-3D print process. Advanced FDM will use intuitive model interaction to deliver lightweight yet strong and purpose-built parts to ensure design intent, and is available now via download with GrabCAD Print from versions 1.24 on up. The software feature will help users avoid long, frustrating CAD to STL conversions, so they can work in high fidelity and ramp up parts production, and it also features CAD-native build controls, so no one needs to manually generate complex toolpaths. Advanced FDM can automatically control build attributes, as well as calculate 3D print toolpaths, in order to streamline the process.

“For design and manufacturing engineers, one of the most frustrating processes is ‘dumbing down’ a CAD file to STL format – only to require subsequent re-injection of design intent into the STL printing process. This software is engineered to do away with this complexity, letting designers reduce iterations and design cycles – getting to a high-quality, realistic prototype and final part faster than ever before,” said Mark Walker, Lead Software Product Manager at Stratasys.

America Makes Ultem 9085 FDM Properties in Database

America Makes has announced that its gold-level member, Rapid Prototype + Manufacturing LLC. (rp+m), has created and delivered a complete, qualified database of material properties for the FDM 3D printing of high-performance ULTEM 9085 thermoplastic resin. This comprehensive database, which features processing parameters and both mechanical physical properties, was released to America Makes, and the rest of its membership community, in order to ensure the widespread use of the Type I certified material for 3D printed interior aircraft components. The database is available to the community through the America Makes Digital Storefront.

“The qualification of the ULTEM 9085 material and the establishment of the material properties database by the rp+m-led team are huge steps forward for AM, particularly within the aerospace and defense industries. On behalf of all of us at America Makes, I want to commend rp+m and its team for enabling the broad dissemination of the collective knowledge of ULTEM 9085 for the innovation of future part design,” said Rob Gorham, the Executive Director of America Makes. “The ability to use AM to produce parts with repeatable characteristics and consistent quality for certifiable manufacturing is a key factor to the increased adoption of AM within the multi-billion dollar aircraft interior parts segment.”

3D MicroPrint Identifying Ultra-Fine 3D Printing Powders

Additive Manufacturing Powder Samples

Germany company 3D MicroPrint uses 3D printing to produce complex metal parts on the micro-scale with its Micro Laser Sintering (MLS) technology, and announced that it is using the FT4 Powder Rheometer from UK-based Freeman Technology, which has over 15 years of experience in powder characterization and flow, in order to push the technology to its limits by identifying ultra-fine metal powders that will process efficiently. The system can differentiate raw powder materials, less than five microns in size, with the kinds of superior flow characteristics that are needed to produce accurate components using 3D MicroPrint’s Micro Laser Sintering (MLS) technology.

“With MLS we are essentially pushing standard AM towards its performance limits. To achieve precise control at the micro scale we spread powders in layers just a few microns thick before selectively fusing areas of the powder bed with a highly focused laser beam. The ultra-fine powders required typically behave quite differently to powders of > 25µm particle size,” explained Joachim Goebner, the CEO at 3D MicroPrint. “We therefore rely on the FT4 Powder Rheometer to identify materials which will perform effectively with our machines, with specified process parameters. Before we had the instrument selecting a suitable powder was essentially a matter of trial and error, a far less efficient approach.”

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

Posted on

3D Printing News Briefs: February 6, 2018

We’re talking about business, training, and events on today’s 3D Printing News Briefs. The first European 3D printing incubator will soon be inaugurated in Barcelona, and 3devo is launching training workshops about desktop filament extrusion. nScrypt’s Director of 3D Printing and a surgeon from Belfast will be presenting at upcoming events, and Arburg will display a complete turnkey system at an Italian trade fair. Finally, because we celebrate all accomplishments in our industry, we’re sharing some good news about a Xometry employee.

3D Factory Incubator Inauguration

This coming Monday, February 11th, the inauguration of the first European incubator of 3D printing – 3D Factory Incubator – will take place in Barcelona. The Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Pedro Duque, will chair the inauguration’s opening act. This High-Tech Business Incubator, a project led by Fundación LEITAT and El Consorci de Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB), is working to promote the adoption of 3D printing by creating a space to incubate related SMEs and micro-SMEs.

The 600 sqm incubator space is located at CZFB’s headquarters, and will include training areas, offices, meeting rooms, laboratories, and co-working zones, in addition to a variety of services. The inauguration will begin promptly at 11 am.

3devo Launching Training Workshops

Dutch technology company 3devo, which creates desktop-based material development and recycling solutions such as SHR3D IT, is launching a series of hands-on training workshops all about desktop filament extrusion for professionals, which will be branded as DevoTraining. The workshops will be held at 3devo’s Utrecht headquarters, and participants can choose one of three programs: a basic, 4-hour module for €499, a 1-day intermediate workshop for €899, and a 2-day advanced level course for €1549.

“The demand for unique 3d printing materials is ever-growing, which requires new knowledge on how to process it,” said Tim Wesselink, the CEO of 3devo. “With DevoTraining, we offer the answers to those innovators who seek to take matters into their own hands. Giving them complete guidance to create and customize their own filament – on demand.”

DevoTraining will be officially released next Tuesday, February 12th.

nScrypt Discussing 3D Printed Munitions and Other DoD Applications

Orlando, Florida-based nScrypt, which manufactures micro-dispensing and 3D printing systems, announced the release of its hybrid Factory in a Tool (FiT) integrated system for Direct Digital Manufacturing in October. nScrypt’s Director of 3D Printing, Larry (LJ) R. Holmes, Jr., is in charge of directing the company’s market participation for industrial-level 3D printing hardware, including its work with the US Department of Defense (DoD). This week, Holmes will speak about nScrypt’s 3D printed munitions, as well as its other DoD applications, on the “AM Innovation Panel: Developing the Next Generation of 3D Printing and Processes in Support of the Warfighter” in Tampa at the Military Additive Manufacturing Summit & Technology Showcase.

“Our FiT platform is ideal for DoD’s 3D printing applications because it does next generation Direct Digital Manufacturing, which means no retooling to build a product or to change from printing one product to another. Just change the CAD file. Our FiT’s pick and place tool head adds actives to the prints, making them electrically functional if needed. We just delivered a Factory in a Tool to the Army’s Redstone Arsenal. It has one full meter of travel in the XY plane,” Holmes said.

“nScrypt’s goal is to disrupt how manufacturing happens. Munitions printed on-demand, where and when they are needed; a ruggedized 3D printer for use in forward deployed locations; and printed electronics, like conformal Active Phased Array Antennas for improved performance at lower cost, are a few of the examples of capabilities currently being transitioned from nScrypt to the DoD and the global manufacturing industrial base.”

SXSW 3D Printing Presentation About 3D Printed Kidney Model

SXSW 2019 begins next month in Texas, and in addition to the many other innovations on display at the event, Dr. Tim Brown, Consultant Transplant Surgeon at Belfast City Hospital, will share his experience of using 3D printing to successfully perform a first of its kind, life-saving operation during a presentation titled “Tumours, Transplants and Technology: AI for Life.” His patient needed a life-saving kidney donation, and while her father was willing to donate, his kidney had a tumor on it. Together with UK medical 3D printing company axial3D and Digital Catapult, Dr. Brown used a 3D printed kidney model to safely complete the transplant surgery and save his patient’s life.

“As the cyst was buried deep within the renal cortex and therefore invisible on the back bench, a replica 3D model was used for preoperative planning and intra-operative localization of the lesion,” explained Dr. Brown. “It’s difficult to underestimate how valuable this strategy was in terms of preoperative planning and achieving successful clearance of the lesion.”

axial3D won the Healthcare Application Award at the 2018 TCT Awards for creating the 3D printed model, and the company’s CEO Daniel Crawford and Operations Manager Cathy Coomber will join Dr. Brown for a panel discussion at SXSW, along with Nigel McAlpine, Immersive Technology Lead at Digital Catapult. The session will take place at SXSW on March 12th, at the JW Marriott Salon FG.

Arburg Exhibiting at MECSPE 2019

Arburg Allrounder Freeformer

At next month’s MECSPE 2019 trade fair in Italy, German machine construction company Arburg will be focusing on 3D printing, automation, and digitalization. The company will be displaying a complex turnkey system, built around a Freeformer 200-3X industrial AM system and a hydraulic Allrounder 370 S; both the Freeformer and Allrounder are networked live with the company’s ALS host computer system. In addition to displaying the system at the trade fair, Arburg will also have experts presenting their outlook on the digital future of plastics processing at Stand F49 in Hall 6.

“MECSPE 2019 is the most important trade fair for the manufacturing industry in Italy and, with its focus on Industry 4.0 and automation, it is an ideal match for Arburg. We are not only a machine manufacturer and expert in injection moulding, but we also have our own MES, our own controllers, automation technology and the Freeformer for industrial additive manufacturing as part of our product portfolio,” said Raffaele Abbruzzetti, the new Managing Director of Arburg Srl. “With more than 30 years of experience in networked and flexibly automated production, we offer our customers everything they need in the era of digitalisation to increase their added value, production efficiency and process reliability – from the smart machine to the smart factory and smart services. We will present examples of all of this at MECSPE.”

Xometry Employee Wins Game Show

This last News Brief has nothing to do with 3D printing itself, but rather an unrelated, but still incredible, accomplishment from one of the industry’s own. On Thursday, January 24th, employees from on-demand manufacturing and 3D printing service provider Xometry gathered to watch one of their colleagues – marketer Aaron Lichtig – compete, and eventually win big, on the popular Jeopardy! game show that night.

Lichtig started off at a steady pace, competing against returning champion and astrophysicist Rachel Paterno-Mahler and sales manager Nancy Rohlen, and was leading the pack with a final score of $12,400 by the end of the Double Jeopardy round. He squared off against Rohlen during Final Jeopardy with the clue, “He was the first U.K. prime minister born after Elizabeth II became queen.” While both correctly guessed the answer as Tony Blair, Lichtig’s steep lead made him the winner that night. Congratulations from your friends at 3DPrint.com!

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

Posted on

3D Printing News Briefs: January 19, 2019

Welcome to the first edition of 3D Printing News Briefs in 2019! We took a brief hiatus at the beginning of the new year, and now we’re back, bringing you the latest business, medical, and metal 3D printing news. First up, Sigma Labs has been awarded a new Test and Evaluation Program Contract, and Laser Lines is now a certified UK Stratasys training provider. Michigan’s Grand Valley State University, and a few of its partners, will be using Carbon 3D printing to make production-grade parts for medical devices. Cooksongold is launching new precious metal parameters for the EOS M 100 3D printer, and VBN Components has introduced a new metal 3D printing material.

Sigma Labs Receives Test and Evaluation Program Contract

This week, Sigma Labs, which develops and provides quality assurance software under the PrintRite3D brand, announced that it had been awarded a Test and Evaluation Program contract with a top additive manufacturing materials and service provider. This will be the company’s fifth customer to conduct testing and evaluations of its technology since September 2018, and Sigma Labs will install several PrintRite3D INSPECT 4.0 in-process quality assurance systems in the customer’s US and German facilities under the program. It will also support its customer in the program by providing engineering, hardware, metallurgical consulting and support services, software, and training.

“Sigma Labs is deeply committed to our In-Process Quality Assurance tools, supporting and moving forward with them,” said John Rice, the CEO of Sigma Labs. “I am confident that this initiative, which marks our fifth customer signed from diverse industries in the past four months, will validate our PrintRite3D technology in commercial-industrial serial manufacturing settings. We believe that going forward, AM technology will play an increasingly prominent role in the aerospace, medical, power generation/energy, automotive and tooling/general industries, all areas which are served by this customer.”

Laser Lines Announces New Stratasys Training Courses

Through its new 3D Printing Academy, UK-based total 3D printing solutions provider Laser Lines is now a certified provider of Stratasys training courses. The custom courses at the Academy for FDM and Polyjet systems are well-suited for new users, people in need of a refresher, or more experienced users, and include tips and tricks that the company’s certified trainers have personally developed. One-day and two-day courses are available at customer sites, or at the Laser Lines facility in Oxfordshire.

“The training courses are an extension of the advice and education we have been providing to customers for the past 20 years. With our experienced team able to share their knowledge and experience on both the FDM and Polyjet systems and materials, customers who are trained by us will get the value of some real life application examples,” said Richard Hoy, Business Development at Laser Lines.

“We want to ensure that our customers get what they need from our training so before booking, our Stratasys academy certified trainers can discuss exact requirements and advise both content and a suitable duration for the training course so that it meets their needs entirely.”

Exploring Applications in Medical Device Manufacturing

Enabled by Michigan state legislation, the Grand Rapids SmartZone Local Development Finance Authority has awarded a half-million-dollar grant that will be used to fund a 2.5-year collaborative program centered around cost and time barriers for medical devices entering the market. Together, Grand Valley State University and its study partners – certified contract manufacturer MediSurge and the university’s applied Medical Device Institute (aMDI) – will be using 3D printing from Carbon to create production-grade parts, out of medical-grade materials and tolerances, in an effort to accelerate medical device development, along with the component manufacturing cycle. A Carbon 3D printer has been installed in aMDI’s incubator space, where the team and over a dozen students and faculty from the university’s Seymour and Esther Padnos College of Engineering and Computing will work to determine the “tipping point” where 3D printing can become the top method, in terms of part number and complexity, to help lower startup costs and time to market, which could majorly disrupt existing manufacturing practices for medical devices.

“We are thrilled to be the first university in the Midwest to provide students with direct access to this type of innovative technology on campus. This novel 3D additive manufacturing technology, targeting medical grade materials, will soon be the new standard, and this study will be a launch pad for course content that is used in curriculum throughout the university,” said Brent M. Nowak, PhD, the Executive Director of aMDI.

New Precious Metal 3D Printing Parameters at Cooksongold

At this week’s Vicenzaoro jewelry show, Cooksongold, a precious metal expert and the UK’s largest one-stop shop for jewelry and watch makers, announced that it is continuing its partnership with EOS for industrial 3D printing, and will be launching new precious metal parameters for the EOS M 100 3D printer, which is replacing the system that was formerly called the PRECIOUS M 080. The EOS M 100 builds on the powder management process and qualities of the PRECIOUS M 080, and the new parameters make it possible for users to create beautiful designs, with cost-effective production, that are optimized for use on the new 3D printer.

“We are proud to continue our successful partnership with Cooksongold, which was already established 2012,” said Markus Brotsack, Partner Manager at EOS. “The EOS M 100 system increases productivity and ensure high-quality end parts as we know them. Based on our technology, EOS together with Cooksongold plans to develop processes for industrial precious metals applications too.”

VBN Components Introducing New Cemented Carbide

Drill bits in Vibenite 480; collaboration with Epiroc.

In 2017, Swedish company VBN Components introduced the world’s hardest steel, capable of 3D printing, in its Vibenite family. Now it’s launching a new 3D printing material: the patented hard metal Vibenite 480, which is a new type of cemented carbide. The alloy, which has a carbide content of ~65%, is heat, wear, and corrosion resistant, and based on metal powder produced through large scale industrial gas atomization, which lowers both the cost and environmental impact. What’s more, VBN Components believes that it is the only company in the world that is able to 3D print cemented carbides without using binder jetting. Because this new group of materials is a combination of the heat resistance of cemented carbides and the toughness of powder metallurgy high speed steels (PM-HSS), it’s been dubbed hybrid carbides.

“We have learned an enormous amount on how to 3D-print alloys with high carbide content and we see that there’s so much more to do within this area,” said Martin Nilsson, the CEO of VBN Components. “We have opened a new window of opportunity where a number of new materials can be invented.”

Early adopters who want to be among the first to try this new material will be invited by VBN Components to a web conference at a later date. If you’re interested in participating, email info@vbncomponents.com.

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

Posted on

Renishaw Partnering with Altair to Bring Metal 3D Printing to Industrial End Users

UK-based Renishaw, one of the world’s top metrology and spectroscopy companies, is also well-known for its advanced metal 3D printers. The company works to make the technology more mainstream, and is now partnering up with enterprise engineering software provider Altair for a new series of projects with the end goal of bringing metal 3D printing to industrial end users for the purposes of serial production.

“Working closely with Renishaw benefits the development and application of our software to optimize designs for functionality as well as for printability, accuracy and suitability for its designated purpose,” said David Coates, Altair’s Senior Program Manager. “This collaboration helps ensure AM part development, print cycles and scrap rates are minimized for our customers.”

This isn’t the first time that Altair, headquartered in Michigan and serving 5,000 customers across broad industry segments, has collaborated with Renishaw over the years. The two companies – one focused on hardware and the other on software – have partnered up on several various projects, including a pivoting bell crank for a race car’s suspension system, a spider bracket for architectural glass panels, and a unique, customizable bicycle frame.

Now, Renishaw is able to leverage all of the software products that Altair has to offer, including its HyperWorks suite with Altair OptiStruct and Altair Inspire.

“Altair is a world leader in simulation-driven design. Research combining their software with our latest systems will give them practical insights that will lead to innovative improvements in their products,” said Stephen Anderson, the AM Business Development Manager of Renishaw Inc.

Altair applies simulation, optimization, and machine learning throughout a product’s lifecycle to transform design and decision-making processes. Using its broad portfolio of patented simulation software allows companies, like Renishaw, to confidently generate reliable, high quality designs that can achieve correct 3D printed parts the first time.

On the flip side, Altair is now using Renishaw’s wide range of metal 3D printers to manufacture products based off their customers’ specific concepts.

“With Renishaw’s help, we are learning about how to best generate and simulate products for multiple laser systems and are actively thinking about laser assignment strategies within our simulation models,” said Coates.

The two companies are now offering joint workshops, training events, and seminars to their customers. These collaborative events demonstrate nearly the entirety of the metal 3D printing process – all the way from powder to finished build – with special emphasis on both machine productivity and throughput.

Customers attending these joint events can also engage in 3D design projects with Altair, in order to develop designs that are well-suited for printability on Renishaw’s metal 3D printer range. In addition, any customers that want to design and test the manufacturing of their metal 3D printed parts at one of Renishaw’s Solutions Centers can instead use Altair’s expertise and software.

Anderson explained, “Together with Altair, we are collaborating on customer-focused productivity projects, particularly in the automotive sector, which will lead to significant improvement in part volumes and lower costs per part.”

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