In The News

3D Printing and Blockchain – Decentralized Technologies

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Rich Benvin
Bitcoin Blockchain

Data Gumbo’s Blockchain to be Used to Secure 3D Printing of Parts

Yesterday industrial blockchain firm Data Gumbo announced a contract with Norway-based deep tech company Fieldmade. The Norwegian company delivers 3D designs so that its defense and energy clients can manufacture parts onsite. The project aims to leverage Data Gumbo’s blockchain network, GumboNet, to verify the origin of Fieldmade’s 3D product designs and materials. Houston-based Data Gumbo is backed by energy firms Saudi Aramco and Equinor.

With 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, the importance of using the correct design or quality of metallic components for parts cannot be overstated.

Fieldmade CEO, Christian Dunn Norberg, hopes Data Gumbo’s network will increase the trust in all stages of their equipment supply market place. He also mentions GumboNet offers Fieldmade additional security to protect intellectual property and other sensitive information, ensuring transactional certainty.

GumboNet will support Fieldmade’s 3D printing services across its aerospace defense and energy sectors, recording data ranging from intellectual property to delivery information. Data Gumbo also claims to be able to automate and implement smart contracts with ‘unprecedented speed, accuracy, visibility, and transparency.’…

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3D Printing and other Decentralized Technologies

DECENTRALISATION. Technologies such as 3D printing and Blockchain represent a major trend with growing importance. This is the trend towards technology being used in a distributed, collaborative way, rather than being centrally controlled.

In 2015, this trend was still in its infancy, but could be seen through the ongoing evolution of the Internet through the “Internet of Things” to the “Internet of Industry”. Another name for the Internet of Industry, common in Germany, is “Industry 4.0”.

In this vision, people will be able to study designs, modify them, download them onto nearby 3D printers, and thereby create new goods. This will happen with minimal legal and contractual overhead, due to Blockchain.

These printers won’t necessarily be in people’s homes but will be accessible in the local neighbourhood. For example, in late 2013 the French La Poste launched an experimental trial of a new 3D printing service at a number of post offices in Boulogne-Billancourt and Paris. Items expected to be 3D printed as part of this trial include jewellery, cardholders, and smartphone cases, along with any other item whose design is contained on files brought by users to the post office.

As a comparison for the present status of 3D printing, we’re about the status of the IT industry in the 1970s. The field has its share of enthusiasts and pioneers, along with serious researchers doing serious research. However the field still lacks successful business models, powerful corporations focused on the subject, and full stable infrastructure. These changes lie ahead, building on what the Internet already provides…

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Blockchain: What’s In It For The Manufacturing Industry?

Blockchain holds much promise for the manufacturing industry says Nitesh Bansal, Senior Vice President and Head of Manufacturing Practice – Americas and Europe, Infosys. In this video, he elaborate on how the technology can help industries like aviation, defense and others…

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Posted in Blockchain, Business, Crypto, Manufacturing

3D Printing Trends To Watch

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Bill Decker

In a recent survey conducted by Jabil, we discovered that in just over a year, the number of companies utilizing 3D printing as well as the variety of applications rocketed dramatically; the percentage of companies using additive to manufacture production parts rose from 27 percent to 52, bridge production increased from 23 percent to 39, and repair went from 14 percent to 38. Although the 3D printing industry is currently worth around $9.3 billion, a report by Smithers Pira predicts that the additive manufacturing industry will be worth $55.8 billion by 2027

What does this mean for 3D Printing enthusiasts?  Growth!

The future of 3D printing is bright and is an increasingly important pillar in the manufacturing renaissance. With the increased usage of the technology, conversations about additive manufacturing are a lot more tangible than they were just two years ago. Before, we were debating whether there is a financial or technological case to convert from traditional, high volume processes to an additive printer.

 

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Posted in Education, Industry Statistics, Industry Stats

3D design environment developed by MIT

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Bill Decker

Nowadays,  it is possible to 3D print a wide variety of objects from the comfort of your home: owning a home desktop printer allows virtually anyone to manufacture a toothbrush or a toy for example. However, oftentimes, the tricky part is to add electronics to your 3D printed pieces. Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed a unique 3D design environment: called MorphSensor, it enables users to digitally model not only the physical form of an object, but also its electronic function.

Embedding electronics such as sensors, chips, and tags typically means that you need to design them separately, making it difficult to create items where the added functions are integrated with the form. Can that change with the invention of MorphSensor? Lead author on a paper about the project, MIT PhD student Junyi Zhu, says: “MorphSensor fits into my long-term vision of something called ‘rapid function prototyping’, with the objective to create interactive objects where the functions are directly integrated with the form and fabricated in one go, even for non-expert users. This offers the promise that, when prototyping, the object form could follow its designated function, and the function could adapt to its physical form.”

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Posted in Education

3D Printing Advances And Usage During Covid 19

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Bill Decker

Well, its easy to see that the less humans we need, the less there is a chance of passing Covid 19 to each other! 3D Printing can help mitigate the risk and the contact.

The global uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the world into a crisis that is still unfolding. Logistical challenges owing too disruptions in manufacturing and transportation, together with pushbacks against globalization and free trade, have constrained supply chains, resulting in critical shortages of essential goods. . Crisis-response efforts are in motion to alleviate shortages of much-needed medical supplies.

There is a need for factories to manufacture, on demand, materials and devices for a range of essential services, in particular for healthcare. In this context, a resilient advanced manufacturing network enabled by a distribution of 3D Printing factories has great potential.

The digital versatility and quick prototyping of 3D printing empowers a swift mobilization of the technology and hence a rapid response to emergencies. Even during severe disruptions in supply chains, critical parts can be manufactured on-demand by any decentralized 3D-printing facility in the world by leveraging designs shared online. Moreover, the additive nature of 3D printing enables product customization and complex designs. The broad spectrum of 3D-printing applications in the fight against COVID-19 includes personal protective equipment (PPE), medical, medical technologies, personal accessories, visualization aids and emergency dwellings…not to mention the advances in Bioprinting

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Posted in Health, Industry Statistics, Manufacturing

3D Printing Trade Association – Can We 3D Print Hair?

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Bill Decker

Over the last few decades hair transplantation surgery has rapidly evolved, becoming more sophisticated and successful, however the process has still fundamentally relied on hair follicles being redistributed from one part of the body to another. Growing human hair follicles in laboratory conditions has proved challenging for researchers, ultimately limiting the efficacy of hair restoration surgery, especially in patients without hair already present that can be grafted.

This new breakthrough brings together a couple of recent innovations. First, the researchers created a unique plastic mold using 3D printers. The moulds are designed to resemble a natural micro-environment stimulating hair follicle growth through tiny extensions just half a millimeter wide.

“Previous fabrication techniques have been unable to create such thin projections, so this work was greatly facilitated by innovations in 3D printing technology,” explains first author on the study, Erbil Abaci.

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Posted in fun, Health

3D Printing And Covid 19 – What Is The FDA Doing?

Posted on September 11, 2020 by Bill Decker

The FDA continues to take creative and flexible approaches to address access to critical medical products in response to COVID-19. Researchers at academic institutions, non-traditional manufacturers, communities of makers, and individuals are banding together to support and fill local and national needs. The FDA is actively engaged across this spectrum and developing ways to assist and support people who are looking to help their communities in these ways. Our goal is to help expand the availability of certain products in ways that are consistent with FDA’s public-health mission.

For example, the FDA is working in partnership with the NIH, VA, and America Makes to support non-traditional manufacturing approaches, such as 3D printing, to address devices shortages including personal protective equipment (PPE). Through this partnership, 3D-printable designs for COVID response are given a clinical assessment by the VA and the NIH posts them on the 3D Print Exchange. FDA has, among other things, provided information on labeling and testing for face shields and face masks.

This page provides an update on how this partnership has contributed to the number of medical devices—including PPE—and parts available to support the COVID-19 response since it was launched in March 2020. For example, 31 community-submitted designs passed the testing performed by VA clinics and were given clinically reviewed status in the first three months. In addition, this effort has so far matched more than 500,000 3D-printed face shields and more than 348,000 3D-printed face masks with health care providers and others in need.  FDA has issued a temporary policy for face masks and respirators during the COVID-19 public-health emergency.

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Posted in Education, Health

3D Printing Trade Association And The FDA Working Together

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Bill Decker

The FDA continues to take creative and flexible approaches to address access to critical medical products in response to COVID-19. Researchers at academic institutions, non-traditional manufacturers, communities of makers, and individuals are banding together to support and fill local and national needs. The FDA is actively engaged across this spectrum and developing ways to assist and support people who are looking to help their communities in these ways. Our goal is to help expand the availability of certain products in ways that are consistent with FDA’s public-health mission.

For example, the FDA is working in partnership with the NIH, VA, and America Makes to support non-traditional manufacturing approaches, such as 3D printing, to address devices shortages including personal protective equipment (PPE). Through this partnership, 3D-printable designs for COVID response are given a clinical assessment by the VA and the NIH posts them on the 3D Print Exchange. FDA has, among other things, provided information on labeling and testing for face shields and face masks.

This page provides an update on how this partnership has contributed to the number of medical devices—including PPE—and parts available to support the COVID-19 response since it was launched in March 2020. For example, 31 community-submitted designs passed the testing performed by VA clinics and were given clinically reviewed status in the first three months. In addition, this effort has so far matched more than 500,000 3D-printed face shields and more than 348,000 3D-printed face masks with health care providers and others in need.  FDA has issued a temporary policy for face masks and respirators during the COVID-19 public-health emergency.

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Posted in Announcements, Bioprinting, Health

3D Printing Trade Association Discusses 3D Printed Chicken!

Posted on July 30, 2020 by Bill Decker
3d printed chicken

KFC has been experimenting with food innovation process for a while now, including the introduction of plantchicken nuggets last year. But a new effort in Russia might just be the Louisville-based company’s most ambitious project yet.

KFC is launching the development of innovative 3D bioprinting technology to create chicken meat in partnership with 3D Bioprinting Solutions research labs based in Moscow, Russia. Mmm 3D Printed Chicken.

The project aims to create the world’s first laboratory-produced chicken nuggets, using chicken cells and plant material. According to a release on KFC’s website, the idea of ​​crafting the “meat of the future” arose among partners in response to the growing popularity of a healthy lifestyle and nutrition, the annual increase in demand for alternatives to traditional meat and the need to develop more environmentally friendly methods of food production. Can we get these 3D Printed to look like someone we know?

“At KFC, we are closely monitoring all of the latest trends and innovations and doing our best to keep up with the times by introducing advanced technologies to our restaurant networks,” said said Raisa Polyakova, general manager of KFC Russia & CIS, in the release. “Crafted meat products are the next step in the development of our ‘restaurant of the future’ concept. Our experiment in testing 3D bioprinting technology to create chicken products can also help address several looming global problems. We are glad to contribute to its development and are working to make it available to thousands of people in Russia and, if possible, around the world.

Read the full article here

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Posted in Bioprinting, fun, Makers

3D Printing Trade Association – Can 3D Printing Help The FDA?

Posted on July 27, 2020 by Bill Decker

The FDA continues to take creative and flexible approaches to address access to critical medical products in response to COVID-19. Researchers at academic institutions, non-traditional manufacturers, communities of makers, and individuals are banding together to support and fill local and national needs. The FDA is actively engaged across this spectrum and developing ways to assist and support people who are looking to help their communities in these ways. Our goal is to help expand the availability of certain products in ways that are consistent with FDA’s public-health mission.

For example, the FDA is working in partnership with the NIH, VA, and America Makes to support non-traditional manufacturing approaches, such as 3D printing, to address devices shortages including personal protective equipment (PPE). Through this partnership, 3D-printable designs for COVID response are given a clinical assessment by the VA and the NIH posts them on the 3D Print Exchange. FDA has, among other things, provided information on labeling and testing for face shields and face masks.

This page provides an update on how this partnership has contributed to the number of medical devices—including PPE—and parts available to support the COVID-19 response since it was launched in March 2020.

Read the full article here

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Posted in Announcements, Health

3D Printing Rocket Ships – 3D Print Materials Copyright Law Battle

Posted on July 7, 2020 by Rich Benvin
The Dark Side of 3D Printing - 3D Printing Controversy

Interview: Relativity CEO Tim Ellis on 3D Printing Rocket Ships

We sat down with co-founder Tim Ellis to talk about the 3D printing process, and the new space industry…

 

3D Print Materials Copyright Law Battle

Micheal Weinberg writes of an interesting legal battle taking place over use of third party 3D print materials.

New York-based Weinberg often writes on the legal issues facing the 3D print industry, of which there are many. The revolutionary technology, combined with the modern world of networking, social media and cloud-based systems has exposed quite a number of puzzling situations where the law is far behind…

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Posted in Legal, Space