Future Links May 4th 2015
Today our news roundup from the printing industry covers an interview that separates 3D printing myths from reality, a printed trachea that helps patients, a car printed by a U.S. government lab, Walstead Investment’s acquisitions in Spain, a new generation of printers, a new branding initiative by the Forest Stewardship Council and Amplas’ plans to help reduce food waste.
3D printing: separating myths from reality
In an insightful interview, 3D printing expert Michael Balzer shares his perspective on the most important developments in 3D printing. While it will take a while until we’ll see printed organs, if that is to happen at all, 3D printing is making headway in dentistry, he asserts.
More at The Motley Fool
Artificial printed trachea helps patients
For years, physicians have utilized ‚computerized tomography,‘ known as CT scans, to create three-dimensional images of the human body. But now, 3D technology is moving from diagnosis to actual treatment through the use of 3D printing. For patients suffering from tracheobronchomalacia, 3D printers can mean the difference between life and death.
More at Science Times
U.S. government institute prints an entire car
The engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) certainly have a sense of style. They 3D printed a car made of carbon-reinforced plastic that was inspired by the Shelby Cobra. The spokesperson for ORNL claims that their improvements on 3D printing with these materials substantially reduce energy use, and allow for energy-absorbing structures to be printed—technologies they think could prove revolutionary to the transportation sector.
More at Road and Track
Walstead Investment buys Spanish printers
Walstead Investments has bought the operations of gravure printer Eurohueco, based in Barcelona, and Madrid web offset printer Rotocobrhi, through affiliate company Walstead Capital. The Spanish printing operations were acquired from Bertelsmann.
More at Print Week
Future print program inspires next generation
The Future Print project in Australia was launched in 2014 to help develop a sustainable future training model to meet the needs of the rapidly transforming print and graphic communications sector. A group of Future Print apprentices from across the country gathered to share their experiences working in the print and graphic communications sector.
More at i-Grafix
Forest Stewardship Council council launches new branding initiative
Based on extensive surveys, the FCS has launched a new branding initiative that emphasizes the benefits of healthy forests for everybody. The tagline “Forests For All Forever” is intended to reaffirm FSC’s vision of saving the world’s forests for future generations, while the visual identity is meant to reinforce the comprehensive approach FSC takes to sustainable forest management.
More at Labels & Labeling
Amplas joins Save Food initiative
Food waste has been recognized as one of the most pressing problems of today. More than 100 million tons of food are wasted each year in Europe and the amount is expected to increase. The Save Food initiative aims at addressing this problem at every link of the supply chain and Amplas is focusing on developing plastics and packaging that can help reduce wasted food.
More at Packaging Europe