3D printing has become the medium of the new technological revolution as its applications diversify from printing food to weapons, from clothing to industrial products. It is also finding more uses in the medical space, including Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P).
The use of additive manufacturing (AM) in the medical industry is well established in making dental implants, artificial hip joints, and molds for invisible braces.
David Tucker, automotive strategy and production development manager at HP 3D Printing, and Kyle Harvey, business unit manager for additive manufacturing at Extol, talk about HP’s recent announcement of polypropylene as a material for AM, as well as how Extol is involved in HP’s expansion of its 3D printing business.
The response of the 3D printing community to the specific shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic has helped to quickly raise the level of awareness of 3D printing and created a lot of buzz, but the realistic, scalable response has been somewhat different than what has been in the headlines. Matt Koons/Director of Business Development for Forecast 3D discusses this in this podcast, hosted by Bruce Morey, Senior Technical Editor for Manufacturing Engineering Magazine.
Additive manufacturing has made an outsized impact on aerospace manufacturing in a short amount of time. In this episode, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering, talks with Sean Henson, Global Product Manager, Composites & Additive Manufacturing for Ascent Aerospace, about the growing role of additive in the industry; the investments Ascent has made in AM in recent years; the kinds of tooling Ascent provides customers through its large-scale LSAM printer, and design considerations for manufacturers when they use large-format AM.
Stratasys Ltd. said it agreed to acquire 3D printing start-up Origin Inc. in a transaction for total consideration of up to $100 million, including cash and stock.
EOS, a supplier in the field of industrial 3D printing for metals and polymers, has announced its ongoing support for the Texas Rocket Engineering Lab (TREL) at The University of Texas.
Rusal America releases new line of aluminum alloy powders for Additive Manufacturing.
Aircraft maker Boeing Co. (Chicago) was among the participants in a new round of investing in a Massachusetts 3D printing company.
It’s not often you get the opportunity to witness rapid, life-impacting change, but for those of us who have been in the 3D printing industry over the last few decades, we have witnessed just that. In the last 20-plus years, 3D printing has changed the definition of manufacturing from merely “one-size-fits-all” to “customized” production and from “high-volume” to “high-complexity/low-volume”—a startling paradigm shift that has enabled many new applications for the manufacturing industry.
