Future Links CW 26 – 3D Printing Edition
This edition of our future links is dedicated to 3D Printing. Read all about the 3D-printed canoe, a printed nose, new materials for 3D-printed cars, shoes for kids with cerebral palsy and a new software for more flexibility in mechanical objects.
3D-Printed Canoe Wins Design Innovation Award at German Biennial Concrete Canoe Regatta
ETH Zurich’s SkelETHon beats 1,000 participants and wins the 1st place in design innovation with its 3D-printed concrete canoe. The canoe, measuring 4 meters and 114 kilograms, was a collaboration between the ETH Zurich university DBT and PCBM. The skeletal structure is the 3D-printed part of the canoe and even though 3D printing wasn’t in every step, it had a significant impact on the overall design. Using concrete for 3D printing is a new field, but companies like Apis Cor are already making names for themselves.
More at 3D Printing
3D Printed Nose by a Nasdaq-listed Firm
To get a new nose, ear, cartilage or bone you do no longer need transplantation! The new alternatives are “bio-ink” and a coffee machine-sized 3D bioprinters. Cellink, a Swedish company, comes with bioink and combines it with 3D printing technology, to create three-dimensional bio structures with living cells. To get away from animal testing more and more companies start adopting it in cosmetics testing. The researchers deal with the question how 3D printing can help drug development for cancer treatment. Furthermore scientists tried to bank on 3D printing in their race to build biosynthetic organs.
More at South China Morning Post
NTU Singapur and PTTGC Work Together to Develop New Materials for 3D-Printed Cars
Nanyang Technological University Singapore and Thai petrochemical giant PTT Global Chemical band together to develop advanced 3D printing materials for the next generation of the automotive industry which should improve fuel efficiency, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and foster sustainable growth. Working together will achieve new technological innovations and scientific breakthroughs. The projects that the two companies carried out so far have the potential for rapid innovations.
More at 3ders
3D-Printed Shoes for Kids With Cerebral Palsy
AbilityMate, a group of designers, engineers and allied health professionals, specialized themselves in 3D printing custom posture and mobility equipment. They use 3D scanners to print their “Magic Shoes” for kids with cerebral palsy. AbilityMate’s methods are faster and cheaper than traditional ones. So, in the future there are not only the shoes, also ankle foot orthotics and orthotics for heads necks and backs are planned.
More at 3ders
Functional Mechanical Objects Because of New 3D Printing Software
Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Australia collaborate with Adobe Research to develop a software system to design functional, mechanical objects for 3D printing. The researchers are missing the flexibility of design in the files for 3D printable mechanical objects. The new software code bridges the gap between functionality and different shapes and makes it possible to reuse the mechanism across all shapes.
More at 3D Printing Industry
