Throwback to the Printastic Year 2019 – Our Top 5 drupa Blog Articles

It’s been quite a year for printing enthusiasts all around the globe. As progress is written in capital letters in the printing industry, there were many innovations and fascinating new developments that spiced up 2019 and helped us over the fact that there was no drupa all year long. Thankfully, that’s about to change in 2020 and we’re already excited for the world’s leading trade fair for the printing industry in June.

But before sliding right into the new decade and getting ready for drupa 2020, we’re taking a look back on the drupa year 2019 and present our top 5 highlights from the blog.

Bee Saving Paper

Biodiversity is strongly influenced by bee populations. That’s why saving bees should be our number one priority in order to ensure the survival of numerous plants and foods that depend on the existence of different bee species.

Bee Saving Paper is on a great way towards a solution: The idea is to shorten the distances between green areas, so that bees are offered a spot to catch their breath and continue the flight to their final destination. Bee Saving Paper consists of glucose and honey plant seeds and is covered by water-based UV paint that attracts bees and works like an energy drink for the fluffy insects.

Learn more about the potential of this paper to save the bee population here.

3D-Printed Living Seawall Tiles

The Bee Saving Paper ensures our biodiversity – and so do the 3D-printed living seawall tiles developed by Volvo. The urbanization in Sydney is one of the reasons why the environment has been facing consequences. During the last 200 years, about half of Sydney’s coast has been replaced by manmade seawalls resulting in an immense downsizing of the mangrove jungle and consequently an expulsion of sea and coastal life.

That’s why Volvo installed their Living Seawall in the Sydney Harbour using the concept of biomimicry. The 3D-printed construction mimics the structure of mangrove roots and offers the marine life a similar habitat to their natural one. Read more about the concept here.

With 3D Printing to Outer Space

Until today, there were exactly twelve people to step onto the surface of the Moon, but with science developing rapidly, chances are that the first human colony on the surface of the Moon or Mars are not too far away. 3D printing with moondust or regolith might be the perfect means to achieve this. It’s a powdery material that if mixed with a liquid binder is ideal for 3D printing.

And since liquid binders are not so easily available on the Moon, the Laser Zentrum Hannover is currently working on alternatives, one of which could be laser technology. Get all the details here.

How the Printing Industry Tackles the Food Waste Crisis

The printing industry is engaged in solving diverse challenges that humanity faces nowadays. One of these challenges is the shocking amount of food going to waste. And the solution?

The idea of using 3D printing to tackle the food waste crisis took surprisingly long to develop, but thanks to Elzelinde Van Doleweerd and Vita Broeken it’s on a promising path. The students from the University of Eindhoven founded the company Upprinting Food, which uses food waste as the basis for 3D-printed perfectly edible food. Get all the insights here!

3D-printed luxurious snacks are not the only solution approaches for the food waste problem. Researcher Dr. Alex Yip from the University of Canterbury’s Department of Chemical and Process Engineering is working on a method to turn food waste into bioplastics. Find the current status of the project here.

#PrintingProfessions

For our last highlight of the drupa blog year 2019, we’re cheating a bit, because we couldn’t decide. One of our blog series deals with the diversity of career opportunities in the printing industry: #PrintingProfessions. It sheds light on different jobs in the printing sector and enlightens the youth about the versatility of jobs in this professional field. Ensuring the future of the printing industry is one of our major concerns – especially at drupa 2020. And that’s why the #PrintingProfessions deserve their place among our highlights.

Of course, there were many other great articles nicely showcasing the progressive and innovative nature of our favourite technological field. What was your drupa blog highlight of 2019? Tell us in the comment section!