3D Printing
3D bioprinting: from science fiction to reality?
After over 15 years of research and development in academia and industry, several main applications of 3D bioprinting technology are ready to be realised. In IDTechEx’s new report titled 3D Bioprinting 2017 – 2027: Technologies, Markets, Forecasts, the global 3D bioprinting market is predicted to experience a period of high growth to reach a size of $1.8 billion by the year 2027.
'Bionic skin' could give robots the sense of touch
Engineering researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a process for 3D printing stretchable electronic sensory devices that could give robots the ability to feel their environment. The discovery is also a major step forward in printing electronics on real human skin. The research will be published in Advanced Materials and is currently online.
3D printing made simple
MIT spinout New Valence Robotics (NVBOTS) has brought to market the only fully automated commercial 3D printer that’s equipped with cloud-based queuing and automatic part removal, making print jobs quicker and easier for multiple users, and dropping the cost per part. To use the printer, called NVPro, a user submits a project from any device, which queues up in the NVCloud software.
Fabrication technology in the fourth dimension
Scientists use the term 4D printing to refer to the simple production of objects that can transform their shape at different times. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now taken this approach one major step further by developing a construction principle that can produce load-bearing and predictable structures. 3D printers have become a standard fixture in many research laboratories – and now a select number of researchers are alre...
3D printing offers latest method to making buildings
The list of materials that can be produced by 3D printing has grown to include not just plastics but also metal, glass, and even food. Now, MIT researchers are expanding the list further, with the design of a system that can 3D print the basic structure of an entire building. Structures built with this system could be produced faster and less expensively than traditional construction methods allow, the researchers say.
Interdisciplinary team aims to 4D print metals and alloys
A team of researchers from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University is collaborating to 4D print nickel-titanium shape memory alloys.
CT inspection advances production of 3D printed medical implants
Lithuanian medical company, Ortho Baltic is the first manufacturer of patient-specific, temporomandibular joint endoprostheses in the Baltic States and one of only three in Europe. The implants replace loss or lack of functionality of jaw movement. To underpin their production, the firm invested in 2012 in Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology and recently acquired CT (Computed Tomography) inspection equipment from Nikon Metrology for quali...
Become a 3D printing expert with training courses
A 3D printing training course, has been announced by EOS, collaborating with two leading universities in the UK and Germany. For this six month ‘Additive Manufacturing Application Engineer’ programme, EOS will work directly with the University of Wolverhampton, a long-standing partner of EOS with an existing high-level metal AM expertise especially in automotive, Formula 1 and aerospace and SRH Hochschule Berlin, a German univers...
Printed transistors consist entirely of 2D nanomaterials
Researchers in AMBER, the Science Foundation Ireland-funded materials science research centre hosted in Trinity College Dublin, have fabricated printed transistors consisting entirely of 2-dimensional nanomaterials for the first time. These 2D materials combine exciting electronic properties with the potential for low-cost production.
3D printing is no threat to IP claims report
New research from law firm DMH Stallard has found that while many companies are excited by the use and potential of 3D printing, they currently don’t see it posing much of a threat to their intellectual property (IP). This is despite the fact that 3D printing can make counterfeiting goods easier.